


Where you Fry up Owls???

by Knight_Of_Breath



Series: I Will Be Haunted By My Actions Forever, Hoot Hoot [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Camila Noceda, Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, Bisexual Eda Clawthorne, Brief Violence, Bullying, Camila is trying, F/F, Good Parent Camila Noceda, Good Parent Eda Clawthorne, Gus is in here too, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Lesbian Willow Park, Luz Noceda has two moms, Useless Lesbian Amity Blight, Willow will fight for Luz, basically skims over most plot stuff, but this is a lot, probably not canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27519214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knight_Of_Breath/pseuds/Knight_Of_Breath
Summary: It took three months for Luz to find her way home. Now she has to go back to human school for two weeks. Faced with nothing but ridicule, how will she survive?I know I'm not the best at summaries, but I'm actually proud of this so plz read.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda & Willow Park & Gus Porter, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Camila Noceda & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Camila Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Hooty & King & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne/Camila Noceda, King & Luz Noceda
Series: I Will Be Haunted By My Actions Forever, Hoot Hoot [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024840
Comments: 95
Kudos: 341





	Where you Fry up Owls???

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know much Spanish! I put translations next to each of the phrases. I think I did okay, but feel free to tell me if something is wrong! The translations are in parenthesis next to the words.
> 
> Also a big thank you to @SpiderGwenPool for beta-ing my fic!

Two weeks. That was how long Luz had to stay in this hellhole. That should be nothing, she was trapped in the Boiling Isles with no way home for three months! When she finally made it home, her mom was less than happy to hear about her otherworldly adventures. 

"Mija, I get it, I really do, but you can't just quit school for someplace to teach you magic!" 

"But it's where I'm happy! Mom, I made friends! Real friends! Who actually like me! For me! Can't we just… keep me in Hexide? Please?"

It was a desperate plea, but Luz knows that it hurt her mom to hear by the way her face scrunches up. Why can't she just have both? Luz wants the Boiling Isles and her mom. 

"Luz, magic will get you nowhere in the real world! It's the reason why I wanted to send you to camp in the first place!" 

The moment the words left her mom's mouth, Luz flinches back as if she'd been hit. All she wanted was to have people who liked her for her, one's who wanted to see her grow as herself. She can see the regret in her mom's eyes but that doesn't stop her from looking down, suddenly wishing Eda would explain how good the Boiling Isles has been for her. Or just listen to her side at all. 

"Look, mija, you know I love your creativity, but fantasy and reality just don't mix." Her mom explains, seemingly getting more frustrated. 

“Okay,” Eda says from her spot on the wall. “This obviously isn’t working. How about you compromise?” Luz looks over in curiosity, while her mom sighs softly. 

“How can we compromise, Eda?” 

“If Luz spends two weeks in this world, goes to human school, the whole shabang, then you have to spend two weeks in the Boiling Isles.” She explains while petting Owlbert. Wow. She is obviously trying to impress Luz’s mom. 

Her mom looks as though she's regretting letting Eda make a suggestion already, but Luz is looking up with hope sparking in her eyes. She sighs heavily, resigned.

"So, if you try for two weeks at your normal school. See if you actually like it more than you remember, or just, try to like it without causing trouble. Then….then I'll spend two weeks in your little magical world. How does that sound, cariño?" 

Luz is already nodding excitedly, jumping up and down. "Si mami! Si!" 

Which led to her current predicament, human school. She told Eda and King before she left, making sure the two would be alright without her. Her mom watched as she cried into Eda's arms and King ran upstairs. 

"It's alright, kid. It's only for two weeks. Then you can invite your little friends over to meet your mom, there," she briefly sends her mom a wink. "And you can teach me that plant glyph I haven't quite gotten down yet, yeah?"

Luz nods through watery eyes and Eda gives her an affectionate head pat. Her voice lowers down to a whisper. "And we'll come visit to make sure you don't get too lonely.” 

King waddles his way down. "Luuuuuz!!" He's definitely holding back tears. "I-I know you have to go, but I want you to take Francois, he'll be able to keep you safe since I can't." 

Fresh tears fall from Luz's eyes as she gingerly takes the stuffed bunny from King. "Thank you, King." Her voice is barely a whisper from her attempts not to cry again. King wraps himself around her leg in a hug. Luz scoops him up into her arms. "I'll see you in two weeks, King. I promise." Luz presses one last kiss to his forehead. She left it up to Eda to spread the word of her two week departure, she doesn't think she could bear to say bye to her friends. Even if it's just for two weeks. 

Her first day of school is something she never wanted to experience again. But instead of the weird kid, she's the kid who went missing and then suddenly turned up with absolutely no warning. And this time there’s no hope of a power sucking demon sneaking into school so she can save the day and prove her worth. 

Luz walks into the school with her head down. She was going to try, for her mom. Her backpack felt heavy, like it was weighing her down with anxiety. Luz can hear the people in the halls whisper about her as she passes by. They can’t even bother to lower their voices. It’s like Boscha, but worse, because it’s the whole school. Still, she pushes the uncomfortable and lonely feeling down, and walks into her first class.

All eyes are on her immediately. Luz averts her gaze quickly, as her teacher's eyes widen. Well, someone wasn’t expecting her to come back. She quickly takes an empty seat in the back. The teacher clears his throat and begins his lesson. The whispers die down, so now all she needs to do is pay attention.

…Okay! Luz can’t do this! Sure, class was boring before--but that was also before she went to magic school where they taught her how to make potions, and pull memories out of her friends head. And she already misses Willow and Gus, and Amity. She didn’t want to say goodbye either. Luz hopes they won’t be too mad when she gets back. But…what if they wanted to come? They would see how much of a loser Luz is. All three of them could find better humans to spend their time with….

“Miss Noceda, if you could pay attention please.” Giggles erupt from her classmates as Luz startles. The murmurs of her peers begin again and her face burns in embarrassment. She almost pulls her hood over her head, but one glance from the teacher says that he has officially labeled her as a troublemaker. Or, at least someone who zones out in class. 

Somehow, Luz manages to make it to lunch without any further incident. But now, she’s faced with being alone at lunch again. It’s not like anyone would want to sit with her. She finds herself missing her friends yet again. It’s hard not to when you’re all alone in a place filled with people together. Logically, at least one person here should share her interests, but even if she tried, she will always be the weird kid. And no one would take social outcasting themself for hanging out with Luz, and she gets that. 

Luz sits at a table, basically alone. Even the other outcasts don’t want to be around her. Her mind yet again wanders to her friends. She wants to be able to make them laugh, maybe sit with Amity underneath their tree. Luz would tell a bad joke, and Amity would do that thing where her eyes light up as she laughs. Luz would give anything to be there right now. She wonders if Amity is missing her, too. Maybe she went to sit under the Grom tree and felt lonely without Luz. She would run to the tree and kiss her tears away--anything to make her feel-

Wait. 

Did she just?

The thought surprised herself. She really just thought about kissing Amity. Now that she thinks about it...the realization hits her hard. “I have a crush on Amity!” 

She says it a little too loud because heads swivel towards her in confusion. “Sorry..” She mumbles, looking back down at her food. 

So, she definitely has a crush on Amity. She’s never really had anyone who could even possibly reciprocate their feelings. Most of the time they were fictional. Luz thoughts are interrupted by a tray slamming down right in front of her. She flinches, eyes rising to meet Tiffany’s. 

Tiffany is someone Luz has known since Elementary school. She was the cool kid. The one who can get away with anything. “Hey, Luzer,” She chuckles at her own joke, as if that hasn’t been Luz’s nickname since the third grade. “Heard you were so weird they wouldn’t let you leave weirdo camp.” 

That isn’t even funny. Luz bites back a retort, she knows it's not worth it. “Aww, come on, you must have done something bad to go missing for three months.” She leans into Luz’s space. “And who’s this Amity? Oh my gosh! Did you fall in love with your kidnapper? That is so sad! And so you. What? Did your mom not give you enough attentio-” 

“That’s not what happened!” She glares at the girl in front of her. “Amity,,, Amity is my friend.” Tiffany looks way too amused at Luz’s distress, a laugh bubbles up her throat. 

“A friend? Oh, wow. Luz Noceda, with a friend?” She giggles more, Luz looks down, her face burning with shame. “You don’t have to lie. People here barely cared that you were gone. I don’t buy it for a second that anyone could care about a freak like yo-” 

There’s the sound of a soft voice clearing their throat. Tiffany turns around to face the person as Luz looks up. 

Luz blinks once, twice, before her mind processes what she is seeing. Her two best friends, right there. Guz is motioning excitedly to his human ears while Willow faces Tiffany head on. “I’d really appreciate it if you would stop being mean to my friend.” 

Tiffany lets out another laugh, sizing the two up. “Friend? Of this weirdo? Wow, what’s wrong with you two?” 

Willow scowls, clenching her fists. “Look, second-rate-Boscha, I really don’t care what your deal is. But if you don’t stop, you will regret it.”

Tiffany might have responded, if it weren’t for Luz launching herself across the table and into her friends arms. She briefly hears Tiffany growl and stomp away, but she’s a little preoccupied. Willow’s serious expression evaporates as she wraps her arms around Luz. “Willow! Gus! How did you two get here?!” 

Willow smiles warmly, while Gus rocks on his heels excitedly. “Well, after Eda told us what happened, we decided we wanted to come see you!”

“So we tempted Eda with shiny things, and a little illusion magic from yours truly, we came so you wouldn’t be lonely!” Gus explains, eyes shining with joy. 

“You guys are the best!” Luz laughed happily, pulling the two into another hug. Willow sobers a little, her face dropping into a tight frown.

“So…. Why didn’t you tell us you were leaving?” The second the question leaves Willow's lips, Luz tenses awkwardly. 

“You guys…are actually my first friends. I didn’t want to have to say bye and… and I was afraid that you would come here, and see all of these people that are cooler and less weird than me. And maybe you would find someone you like more…” Luz avoids eye contact as she admits her fear to her friends. She doesn't know how they will react. 

Suddenly calloused hands are cradling her face. “Luz, did you stop hanging out with me when you met Boscha?” 

She looks up to a bittersweet smile on Willow’s face. Luz shakes her head. “No.. But that’s different. You’re awesome!” 

“You say that as if you aren’t just as awesome, Luz. We’d never abandon you.” Gus adds seriously. Luz sniffles.

“Aw… You guys! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in person!” Luz is grinning. Why was she so worried about this? They are literally her best friends. She is going to have to apologize to Amity when she gets back. A lot. Maybe she can find some Azura merch while she is here. 

This extremely tender moment between her and her friends are cut off when a teacher approaches, a stern expression on her face. Just behind her is Tiffany, looking way too proud of herself. 

“Aw, dang It.” Luz mutters as she is led to the principal's office. She got a little excited and now she has to face her mom’s disappointment again. Luz attempts to find a proper way to explain this without getting her friends or herself in trouble. She can’t just tell her mom that Willow and Gus decided to visit, and she was so excited to finally have people there to care about her that she vaulted herself over the table, spilling all of Tiffany’s food. She would lose it. Magic and reality don’t mix. But magic is all she has. Besides her mom, everyone who cares about her, even a little, is magic. 

Luz sits in the chair, as her principal looks at her, annoyance decorating his features. “You have been back for one day, miss Noceda. I wish you could have waited until after my lunch break.” 

She lets out a hiss of air through her teeth. “Sorry, principal Hal. I just got a little...excited.” Luz averts her eyes. 

“You jumped over a table and spilled a girls lunch all over the floor.” He explained, deadpan. “I don’t want to have to call your mom for something like this. If you can promise there will be no more issues, we can let this go.” He obviously doesn’t want to deal with her. She sighs sadly, but nods. 

The rest of the day was okay. Luz had to say bye to Willow and Gus, they still have to go to their school. They promised to bring her her homework, though, and she had never thought any type of homework would get her excited. But magic homework is so much better.

Heading home made her relax, it was easy to feel better thinking about how she was going to see her mom again. She missed her so much. While Eda is family, her mom is, too. She wants to keep both of them. Maybe her mom could come to the boiling isles and stay in the owl house. Luz would give up her room for that. Or maybe she could talk to Hooty about expanding. And she could add an actual bed into her room. 

Luz’s thoughts are cut off by a harsh shove. She falls to the ground as Tiffany walks past. “Oops. Didn’t see ya there.” She laughs and walks past. 

Luz frowns as her palms and knees begin to sting. Pulling herself back to her feet, she can already see the skin through the tears in her jeans, as well as the blood beginning to seep into the fabric of her pants and all over her knees. She walks it off. Luz was able to fight off the Emperor of the Boiling Isles. She was able to free Eda.

Bullying is not, and should not even be on her top ten of her list of things to care about. She can handle it, she knows the people on the isles care about her. And her mom cares about her. That’s all she needs. Luz will never need to think about these people again. 

She makes it to her house and walks inside. Her mom is still at work, so she can clean her knees and hands up without worrying her. She turns on the light before jumping in surprise. 

King is standing on her kitchen counter with Eda sitting on the couch. “Luuuuz!” King squeals happily as he jumps into her arms. She winces as the scrapes on her hands are irritated by King’s fur. “It wasn’t like I missed you!” 

“He wouldn’t stop whining and asking about when he was going to see you, so I thought we would come say hi.” She is attempting for nonchalance, but it is obvious that she wanted to see Luz too. 

Luz pulls King close to her chest and wraps Eda in a hug as well. “Thank you both!” 

“Wait a minute! What happened to your legs?!” Eda asks, motioning to her knees. Luz chuckles awkwardly. 

“Hehe… I tripped. I was about to go clean it off.” Her pants are going to be stained, but she can handle that. 

Eda smiles. “I did bring some of my healing potions. Why don’t you go clean that off, and I’ll go grab them.” Luz nods and rushes into the kitchen. She grabs a paper towel and wets it before dabbing at the blood until her skin is no longer covered, and she can clearly see the cuts. Then she throws away the paper towel and hobbles back into the living room. 

She downs the healing potion Eda gives her and lays on the couch, with her head in Eda’s lap. King forces himself into her arms, snuggling up to her. Eda runs her fingers through Luz’s hair while the potion begins to take effect. This sort of thing became a regular occurrence after Eda was taken by the Emperor's coven and Luz destroyed the portal to her home. Luz didn’t want to be alone, and it was comforting to all of them. “So. If you wanna tell me what really happened, you know I’m right here.”

Luz looks up in surprise. “How did you-?”

“I didn’t until you told me just now.” Eda winks at Luz while grinning cheekily. Her face sobers quickly however. “So, what actually happened? And don’t bother lying, kid. You’re terrible at it.” 

She sighs, realizing that Eda probably could see right through her. “Just a girl running into me. It’s not important, I promise.”

Eda frowns. She doesn’t seem like she quite buys it, but Eda sighs softly and lets it go. King’s snoring makes both Luz and Eda snicker quietly. That probably means it’s time for the two to go back home. 

Luz rolls off of the couch, falling on the floor with practiced accuracy. She is pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain when her knees hit the hardwood flooring. She climbs to her feet, and the lack of scarring is also a pleasant surprise. The only evidence left of her little trip is the holes in her jeans and blood staining them. 

Eda stands, ruffling Luz’s hair. “Alright, Luz, we should let you spend some time with your mom. Be safe, okay?” It might seem nonchalant, but Luz can see the tightness in her shoulders, and clenching of her jaw. She’s worried. It does make sense, experiencing so many life or death situations together, that they don’t like not being able to see each other. That always leaves a lot up to chance. 

She pulls the two into a tight hug. “I’ll be okay Eda, I promise. Estaremos bien.” Once she pulls away, she smiles sadly. “I love you guys.” 

“Love you too, kid.” Then she leaves, holding onto a sleeping King as she flies off on Owlbert. 

None of her teachers have assigned homework yet, so she can spend the entire night with her mom! 

Once her mom gets home, Luz is attached to her immediately. “How was school, Mija?” She asks with a soft laugh. Luz wraps her arms around her waist. 

“It was alright. I didn’t let any more snakes loose, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Luz smiles teasingly, making her mom chuckle. 

The two settle down on the couch with their dinner, some telenovela is playing on the tv. Luz leans her head onto her mom's shoulder. “Mami?” 

“Yes, Mija?” 

“Sometime this week, can we go shopping? My friend, Amity, is a huge fan of Azura, and I want to get her something.” She doesn’t mention that Amity is from the Boiling Isles, or her recently discovered crush. 

“Sure. We can go out this weekend and find things for your little friend.” Luz wraps her arms around her tightly, feeling so happy and relieved.  
“Thanks mami..” 

“De nada, querida.” (You're welcome, dear) Luz lets her head droop back onto her mom’s shoulder. Her eyes feel heavy as the television rattles on about something or other. She’s missed this, being with her mom. It’s comforting to know she’s there. That is all she needs for her eyes to slip closed and for her to finally slip into a peaceful slumber. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz is awoken by the sound of her alarm, the ghost of a scream passing her lips. It’s not loud enough to alarm her mom, but she can feel the trembling in her limbs. Luz inhales shakily, this is routine by now. She’s had plenty of nightmares before, and she can deal with them. 

Luz gets dressed quickly, throwing on her clothes with a practiced ease. She misses her Hexide uniform--specifically the mini cape. Luz loves wearing capes, and cloaks. Basically anything that’s flowy and might have a hood. 

It’s a little easier to walk into school, it still feels weird, no longer having any friends to talk to. It is so easy to get used to having friends, that being without them again is a harsh adjustment.

She makes it to english without too much struggle. The teacher is at the front already, the whiteboard has two large words written on it. ‘Book Report’ 

Consider Luz’s interest piqued. She loves book reports the most… If she can choose the book. Once all of the students are sitting down, the teacher sits at their desk. “So, this is our next project due. It is a book report that is supposed to cover a popular trope used in a book of your choice. The purpose of this assignment is for you to tie this trope back to real life and how it affects both the characters, and you. It will be an oral presentation due next friday. You will have class time to do some of it, but you will still have to do some on your own.” 

With this explanation, they send the class off to brainstorm different books, but Luz already knows that she’s gonna do Good Witch Azura 5. But now for the trope. She spends the rest of class brainstorming, writing different tropes, and the connections to her as well as Azura. 

About five minutes before the end of class, her teacher leans over her shoulder. Luz looks up at them hesitantly. 

“Hmm, interesting. Are you sure you can find a connection to this book and your real life?” Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem like they’re immediately dismissing the idea, just curious. 

Luz nods, slowly getting more excited. “Yep! The Good Witch Azura series has plenty of tropes! I already have a list of ones that I can tie back to my life! Like, befriending your rival! Just like Azura befriended Hecate, I was able to befriend Amity! These books have a surprising amount of nuance to them.” She explains happily. 

Behind them, one of the kids in class pretends to cough. “Loser.” The rest of the class snickers at that.

Luz deflates a little, ready for this class to be over with already. 

“Well, Luz, it would seem you really have thought this through. I’m glad you are enjoying the assignment. Try and think of some other possibilities, too. Sometimes there are better choices than the most obvious.” The teacher explains. Luz smiles shyly, nodding as the teacher walks back up to the front of the classroom. 

“Alright, you can start packing up now.” The class dissolves into murmurs as they all do just that. 

“That fucking weirdo is doing the exact same book that got her sent to camp last year, she let snakes loose in the school.” Luz sighs, she’s used to overhearing stuff like that already. Even though she’s only been back for like a day. 

That’s when she notices a girl in the back of the class. She’s sitting by herself, and Luz doesn’t recognize her. Maybe she can make a friend here! She came here, resigned to being alone,but maybe she doesn’t have to be. 

Once the bell rings, she shoots up and walks over to the girl. “Hi! I’m Luz. Luz Noceda!” Luz is smiling. The girl looks over, and smiles tensely. 

“I’m Nat.” Luz lights up, maybe she can make a friend. “Look, I gotta go, but I’ll see you later, maybe?” 

“Yeah!” She responds, but Nat is already walking away. She talked to someone!

The rest of the day was really boring, in a good way. She managed to avoid Tiffany at lunch by sitting outside. And doing that also meant less people stared at her. For once, she actually enjoyed it. Then the rest of her classes flew by, most of them were either easy, or easy to tune out. 

Once the final bell rings, Luz rushes out of the school. She cannot wait to get home! Her mom is getting off early today, and that means they can hang out more! She is running down the steps when a hand suddenly shoves at her shoulder, leaving her to harshly fall to the ground. She doesn’t have enough time to react, so she skids on the ground, elbow first. 

Luz can hear Tiffany’s laugh, but anything else she says is drowned out by the sound of her heart pounding. The rest of the people walk around her as she sits up, clutching at her elbow. She can feel the blood. Again? Seriously? Does Tiffany not have any better ideas besides shoving her onto concrete? At least Boscha was a creative bully.

She walks home, a scowl on her face. Her elbow stings sure, but not as bad as having no friends. No one here will even look at her. She made too much of a bad impression the first time. If it happened at Hexide, Willow would have helped her to her feet, at least. 

She sniffles pathetically, but attempts to dry her tears before she gets home. It’s strange to be homesick for a place that technically isn’t her home. 

Luz stops crying by the time she walks inside while her elbow is still bleeding. Her mom sees it immediately. 

“Mija, what happened?” The concern in her eyes is obvious and it makes Luz feel guilty. 

“I just tripped.” It’s a bad lie. She says it through gritted teeth. But her mom takes it at face value. Good. Luz doesn’t want to worry her. 

“Bien, limpiemos. We don’t want that to get infected.” (Alright, Let's clean it out) She guides Luz to the sink and turns on the water. She lets the water pour over the cut, and washes it out with soap. As her mom wraps the scrape, she finds her mom smiling down at her. 

“I missed you so much, Mija. When you stopped answering your phone, I was so scared. I’m so glad you’re home.” It’s gentle, and soft, and it makes Luz want to cry. She holds her tears in, and presses her head to her mom’s chest.

“I missed you too, mami. So, so much.” She doesn’t mention how scared she was, fighting off Belos and destroying the portal, or how scared she was that she wouldn’t ever see her mom again. Her mom needs the comfort more. She doesn’t need to hear about Luz’s fears. 

Luz’s mom pets her gently, obviously taking comfort in the fact that she is here. The doorbell rings, making both of their heads shoot up, but for two very different reasons. 

“Ah! The pizza I ordered is here!” Her mom says, rushing to the door. Luz forces herself to relax and grabs some plates for the two of them. 

The two sit together at the table, eating their pizza happily. “So, what is school like… on the Boiling Isles?” 

The question shocks Luz. Is she trying to reach out to Luz and learn about the things that interest her? She looks up and grins. “Oh! Well, the school is built on the remains of its rival school! And there are nine tracks focusing on the different covens! There’s abomination, plant, illusion, bard, healing, oracle, beast keeping, potions, and construction. Before, you were only able to join one track, but now you can do multiple! I’m the only student to be in all nine tracks at once! And Principal Bump, the one who destroyed the school before it, is actually really cool! He admitted that he was wrong, and he even refused to snitch on Eda even though she was a terrible student when she went there. And the classes are so informative!” 

She could talk for hours about Hexide, heck, she researched it a lot before her test, but her mom seems to be struggling to process all of that information already. 

“You were able to change their minds, Mija?” It’s a soft question,Luz barely heard it. She responded with a nod that is just as soft. 

“Well, it wasn’t just me. I had some help from Viney, Jerbo, and Barkus. They’re the other kids who are studying multiple tracks! But I helped. It was scary--but exciting! And I ended up having such a great time there! Once we go back to the boiling Isles I can show you some of the magic I learned!” 

Her mom smiles softly. “I’d love to see your magic, Mija.” 

After they’re done with their dinner, Luz actually does have homework tonight, so she hides herself in her room to try and get it done. It’s difficult, for sure. She doesn’t really get why she needs to know the exact day the revolutionary war began, or the names of the different battles. 

It’s all difficult for her to focus on. And remember. She already knows the basics of what happened. She should not have to know the dates. 

It takes a few hours, but she does finish it. It might be a little rough, and she may have heavily relied on google, but it is complete. Her brain is so worn out. It’s hard for her to even keep her eyes open as she shoves her homework back into her bag. 

Then it takes extra energy just to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth. She walks into her moms room, a nervous feeling swelling throughout her chest. Her mom is already asleep, of course. Luz can even see the rise and fall of her chest. There is nothing to be worried about. Absolutely nothing. With that satisfied, she crawls into bed, ready to sleep until morning. 

~~~~~~~~

There’s less urgency this morning as Luz prepares for school. Only eight more days, not counting the weekend, of this place, then she can go back to Hexide and learn to be a witch! Eight days isn’t too bad. Right? Right. A week and a day. She can do this. She will do this. 

Luz heads to school with a slight pep in her step. She met Nat yesterday! Maybe She will want to talk some more! Making a new friend would be great! And it would show her mom she can survive in both worlds! 

She goes through her first period anxiously, she can’t wait to see Nat again! She pays minimal attention, but heading to her second period class, she keeps an eye out for Tiffany or anyone else who wants to ruin her one chance at friendship. 

Luz walks into the class, only to see Tiffany talking to Nat. Figures. Luz walks to her seat, and Nat looks at her with a scrunched up face. 

Oh. Nevermind. Tiffany is just being annoying. “Natalie, talking to her just, isn’t worth it.” 

“Shouldn’t you be getting to class.” Nat responded with a deadpan voice. Tiffany glares at the defiance, but she still leaves. 

“Just, think about it.” 

Nat sits in her chair with a groan before turning to Luz. “God. She is so fucking annoying.” Luz doesn’t respond. She doesn’t know how. “So, you’re the kid who let the snakes lose last year, huh? That’s cool.”

“Oh, I didn’t really mean to! They were my back-up snakes for my book report!” Luz attempts to defend herself. 

"Nah, it’s pretty hilarious. You’re not as bad as everyone says.” She mentions with a smile.

Luz lights up, grinning brightly. But she doesn’t get to respond, because the teacher decided to begin class. 

“Okay class, today I’ll give you the time to read your book, or for the people who have already read the book, they can brainstorm different tropes and do some research. You can listen to your music, but try and keep talking to a minimum.” Luz already has a list of tropes and rated them. She has an idea of which one she’s gonna do. So instead, Luz decides to doodle. She plugs her headphones into her ears, and focuses on drawing little doodles. There are some of her friends, of characters from the Azura books, and some less than polite doodles of Tiffany being eaten by a fairy.

Luz jumps when someone leans over her shoulder. She yanks out her headphones before turning to see Nat. “Dang, that’s pretty graphic.” 

“Heh.. Yeah. They’re just doodles though. Nothing important.” Luz is blushing a little.

“I don’t know, Tiffany being eaten by a fairy? I think? Is kinda cool.” 

Luz mumbles out a ‘thank you’. The bell startles them both out of their conversation. 

“Aw heck!” Luz says, scrambling to pick up all of her things. She haphazardly shoved all of her items into her bag. “Bye Nat!” 

Nat waves while Luz rushes to the lunchroom. When she makes it there, she basically skids to a stop. 

Lilith is sitting at one of the tables. She spots Luz quickly and gives her a shy wave. Luz rushes over, embarrassment evident on her face. 

“Lilith?! What are you doing here?” She glances around, trying to make sure Tiffany isn’t around. 

Lilith attempts to appear composed, but she’s obviously distraught. “Ah, well… Edalyn insisted that I come and do my apology dance…..She wanted to make sure you were doing okay. And would not take no for an answer.” 

Luz smiles at that. The apology dance is something Eda makes Lilith do every week. “That’s..” she pauses, struggling to find the right words. “...really thoughtful of her. But you really don’t have to do that.” 

Lilith sighs, relieved that she won’t have to embarrass herself in front of a bunch of human highschoolers. Luz takes a seat next to her. 

“How are Eda and King doing?” Luz asks, a little afraid to know. She doesn’t want them to collapse without her, but she doesn’t want them to be fine without her either. 

“They miss you, that’s for sure. King is already going stir crazy, and Edalyn, while more composed, is a lot more...mopey than usual.” Lilith explains, not looking too fond of the situation they are in. 

“Oh, my, gosh! Who is this?!” Tiffany asks, rather loudly. Dangit. Lilith looks surprised. But Tiffany isn’t done. “Wait, is this Amity?” Her voice goes into a stage whisper. “Y’know, your kidnapper that you have a crush on or whatever!” 

Luz frowns, her face burning in embarrassment. Of course she would out her crush. She almost wants to cry. 

Lilith looks at Tiffany, a blank expression on her face. “Well, it would appear even this realm has tasteless people.” 

Tiffany gawks at the implication that she is tasteless, but Lilith isn’t done. “Look, I know it’s hard to be so pretty, and still not have a boyfriend because your personality sucks. But you don’t have to take it out on Luz.” 

Tiffany can’t even respond. How does one eloquently respond to being absolutely destroyed by Lilith Clawthorne? The answer is, you don’t. You walk away in your shame. Which is exactly what Tiffany does. 

Lilith turns away quickly. “Thank you for that.” Luz mumbles. Their relationship is pretty rocky, with the whole attempt at murdering and all, but this is actually pretty cool. 

“Of course. I cannot stand people like that.” 

“Did you have to deal with them?” Luz is looking up at her. It would be nice to talk to someone who can relate. Even if she also tried to murder her at some point. 

Lilith nods. “Yes, I wasn’t the most talented child, and well, I always had Edalyn to back me up.” 

Luz smiles sadly. She wanted an Eda to back her up. Lilith frowns at Luz’s less than cheery disposition. 

“So, you like Amity?” Luz’s face lights up at the question. 

“I, uhm, yes, I mean! No! I mean-agh!” She hides in her hands, her face bright red.

Lilith chuckles. “No worries Luz, your secret crush is safe with me.” 

Luz calms a little. But the thought of Amity does make her wonder. “How is Amity doing?”

Lilith’s face sobers. “She is definitely distracted. I believe she thinks you no longer like her because you didn’t tell her you were leaving.” 

Luz immediately cringes at the thought. She made her friend think she doesn’t like her. Dread pools at the pit of her stomach. She curls in on herself a bit. How could she be so careless and terrible. Of course Amity wouldn’t want to be her friend after that. Tears begin to pool in her eyes just thinking about it. Luz didn’t want her friends to find someone better, but now she’s lost a friend. A really important one, too.

Lilith’s eyes widen as she sees Luz fall into a panicked state. It’s clear she has no clue how to comfort a child. “Oh no, Luz. Don’t cry. I can-I can uh-explain it to her. She’ll understand once I tell her your reasoning.” 

Luz sniffles. “She won’t hate me?” Lilith shakes her head. 

“She won’t hate you. I swear it.” 

Luz wipes her eyes, and Lilith stands. “I suppose after that, I really do owe you an apology dance.” 

Luz shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. You really don’t have to. It’s fine.”

But it’s too late. Lilith, in all of her prim and proper glory, begins to bounce up and down. “I'm Lilith, and I was wrong. I did something I shouldn’t have, and I technically did a bad, so now it’s time for the apology dance.”

Luz can barely hold back a snort as Lilith begins to dance to music that isn’t there. Her and King spent a week curating the perfect punishment (besides having Hooty cleaning duty every week) for causing Luz intense emotional trauma. It’s also a good way for Luz to feel less threatened in her presence, because the dance is absolutely ridiculous. 

Once Lilith begins to attempt to do the dance to Twice’s FANCY, Luz loses it. She cackles as Lilith’s face burns in embarrassment. The dance winds down with dabs in quick succession. 

“I’m sorry for trying to murer you.” She ends the dance with jazz hands. The dance caught the attention of some of the other kids who eat at that table, but Luz can’t find it in her to care. That is the most she’s laughed all week. 

Lilith smiles gently. “I’m glad you enjoyed my dance. I must depart, but I will talk to Amity.” 

Luz nods. “Thank you, Lilith.”

Lilith leaves after that. And the other kids eventually go back to eating their food, and ignoring Luz. The rest of the school day is basically irrelevant. No one talks to her, so it’s not like she can have anything particularly good or bad happen to her. 

After the final bell rings, she takes an extra precaution to avoid Tiffany. If she shows up bleeding again, it will definately be suspicious. After making sure she isn’t being followed or shoved, she makes her way home. 

The walk is quick, because she’s jogging. It’s a relief that Lilith will tell Amity that Luz didn’t want to hurt her. She can’t wait to go home and sleep. Her mom is working late today, so she is expecting to spend the night alone. 

Luz walks into the house, tossing her backpack onto the couch before heading into her room. She spends a few hours on her phone, while snacking on some things in her room. She knows that her mom won’t be home until ten or eleven, so she doesn’t bother with actual food. Snacks are a decent enough dinner. But maybe her mom will want something when she gets home. 

She rushes down the stairs, going to the kitchen. She doesn’t know what her mom would like. Something easy to eat, and clean up. Hmmmmm….

Pancakes! It’ll be like a late night breakfast! She pulls out all of the proper ingredients and tools. 

It takes a while, but she made the best pancakes she could have. And, sure, they’re a little charred, but they are edible. She made too many, so it looks like pancakes for her as well. 

Since Luz finished the actual cooking, all that’s left is to wait for her mom to come home. 

Luz is dozing off at the table when her mom enters the house. She shoots up. “Mami!” She calls. 

“Mija? What are you doing up?” She makes her way to the kitchen to see Luz grinning brightly. 

“I made you dinner!” She announces proudly, presenting the plate of pancakes. Luz’s mom smiles slightly, standing in front of the plate. 

“Oh, Luz. You made this for me? Muchas gracias cariño.” (Thank you a lot darling) She presses a kiss to Luz’s forehead and Luz blushes, pleased.

“Now, go on to bed. I’ll eat my dinner then head to bed myself. buenas noches, mija. Te quiero.” (Goodnight mija, I love you)

Luz nods, still feeling sleepy. “Te quiero mami.” (I love you mom) She crawls up into her bed, and quickly falls asleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz wakes up feeling heavier than normal. Like something is weighing her down. All of her movements are sluggish and stilted. She is lacking all of her usual energy as she runs through her morning routine. 

Her mom is already in the kitchen, and all of the noises seem like too much. She’s making breakfast or something, but it all feels too loud. She walks into the kitchen, and her mom turns towards her and smiles. “Morning, mija. I made eggs.” 

Luz strains herself to smile, even though everything feels so loud. “Thank you, mom.” She says as she sits and her mom slides a plate of eggs in front of her. Luz eats without thinking about it. It’s hard to think at all right now. 

Her mom seems to think something is wrong, because she begins to do what she always does when she wants to cheer Luz up. She starts talking about articles she read on her phone. 

“Oh, I saw this really cute article earlier! It was about this puppy who got lost, and then the people who found him, absolutely fell in love, but found his original owners, and gave him back. Isn’t it sweet, that he’s with his real family now.” 

The second the words leave her mom's mouth, every muscle in Luz’s body teses. She knows that she’s still talking, but Luz can’t hear a single word. ‘She’s with her real family now’ repeats over and over in her head. All of the air leaves Luz’s body. 

The only thing Luz can think of right now is Eda, Eda as an owl beast, and Lilith, holding Luz down, making Eda use the last of her powers, and sending her away. ‘She’s with her real family now’

Luz can’t breathe. It’s like being pushed down onto those spikes by Lilith again. She doesn’t even realize she’s on the floor until there are hands on her. She goes to back up, but she’s on the ground. Eda is gone, forever. She’s trapped in the emperor's coven. ‘She’s with her real family now.’

Everything is a blur, she slowly comes back to the present with her mom hesitantly kneeling in front of her. Her mouth is moving before Luz hears any noise.

“-z, Mija, I need you to breathe.” Luz clenches her jaw, forcing herself to inhale slowly. Then she exhales. She doesn’t feel better, per say, but she can focus and is not currently hyperventilating. 

“Sorry mami…” She’s wiping her eyes. 

“What happened, mija?” She asks softly. Luz looks away quickly, she doesn’t know how to explain it in a way that she wouldn’t take it out of proportion. 

“It’s….nothing. Not important.” She stands, attempting to avoid worrying her mom. “Oh no! If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late for school ¡adiós! Te quiero”(Bye! Love you) 

She is running out the door before her mom can even respond. Luz doesn’t want her mom to think the Boiling Isles is too dangerous for her. She can handle the Isles way better than she has ever handled normal school. 

Luz walks into the school, absolutely convinced that it’s going to be a bad day. She goes through her first and second period with her head down, the events of this morning making it hard to focus. Nat might try to talk to her, but Luz only makes non-committal noises. 

She heads to lunch, only focusing on not freaking out again. If she can keep her cool until she gets home then everything will be fine.

Luz goes to sit down before bumping into someone. She looks up with an apology on the tip of her tongue. But it’s Willow and Gus! 

“Friends!” Luz exclaims, pulling the two into a tight hug. 

Willow and Gus hug back immediately. “Should we be concerned that it’s this easy to sneak into your school?” Willow asks, keeping a tight hold on Luz. 

“Nahhhh, it’s always been like that. They just don’t care! Heck, a fight could break out right in front of them and they wouldn’t blink.” Luz mentions with a laugh. The hug breaks as Guz squirms out, holding a binder full of papers. 

“Here! Your work for this week and next week! It’s separated by class, with a paper clorp!” He says excitedly. Luz smiles fondly at the two. Not spending time with them sucks. 

“Aw yes! Time to do this instead of any classwork!” She grins at her two friends. “Oh, yeah! Are you two busy this sunday?” 

Both Willow and Gus shake their heads. “How about you two hang out in the human realm with me? I technically can’t leave, but my mom didn’t say anything about you two coming here.” She’s grinning slyly, already scheming up the perfect day with her friends. 

Gus already has stars in his eyes. “A day?! In the human realm?! Doing human things?!” Gus has seemingly lost all cognitive function. The thought of going to earth for a day has him in a daze. 

“Hmmm,” Willow seems to be thinking really hard about this. Luz is almost worried before her facade breaks into a huge grin. “Yeah! Let’s do it!!” 

“Yayy!! It’ll be like a human day!!” Luz says, rocking onto her heels. “We can go get boba! And go shopping! And go to my favorite sandwich place! Oh I’m so excited!!” 

The two have to leave soon after, they need to get back to class before their lunch break ends, but with this new piece of information, Luz is ecstatic. She will get to hang out with her friends! She’s never done that on earth before.

The rest of the day goes by excruciatingly long. And it’s only in the last period that anyone gives her issues. She’s already finished her work, so Luz decides to start on her Hexide material. She goes with the plant coven first, because if she gets confused, then she can just ask Willow for help. 

Luz makes it halfway through her packet, when someone towers above her. She looks up slowly, and of course it’s Tiffany. Luz frowns. 

“What are you working on, Luzer? I know you finished the work for this class.” She grabs the papers not currently in Luz’s possession, basically all of the other eight tracks. 

“Potions Homework?! What the fuck is this for, you freak!” Tiffany is cackling as Luz swipes the papers from her and shoves them in her bag.

Luz doesn’t know what she can say. If she says it’s for Hexide, she risks exposing the magical world. So she doesn’t respond. She just tries to remember which type of plant has acidic chloroplast. 

“Hey, I’m talking to you, freakshow.” She grips Luz’s hair, pulling her head up. Tiffany grins, despite Luz’s lack of expression. Tiffany leans closer, only to be cut off by the final bell ringing. “You got lucky, Luzer.” 

With that Tiffany shoves Luz’s head back and saunters out of the classroom. Luz doesn’t waste time on her. She just gathers her things as quickly as possible and rushes home. 

She gets there quicker than normal, if only for her running the entire way to avoid school kids and her own thoughts. She opens the door to find Eda and Camilla on the couch. Anything they were saying gets cut off as the two look at her. “Hey kid, I--oof!” 

Whatever she was gonna say was cut off by Luz running into her arms full speed. This morning's events come rushing back, full speed. Eda, used to these antics by now, just maneuvers so Luz can be more comfortable. 

“Wanna talk about what triggered you this morning?” Eda asks, making eye contact with her mom for some reason. King quietly crawls into her arms as a silent support. 

“I was…” She pauses for a long time, no one says anything, letting her gather her thoughts. “It’s dumb. I was just, mom was talking about this article, there were puppies or something. And they were reunited, then she said that they were with their real family now-” Her voice cracks and she squeezes King a little tighter. “It’s--It’s what Lilith said--when--” 

Luz stops talking to cry quietly into King’s fur. He doesn’t even complain. She must be pitiful right now. Eda seems to get it, however, and simply pulls her into her lap. 

“Alright, I get it now. We’re all your family. Me, your mom, King, Hooty. If you choose us, we will all be your family, Luz. Because real family is a choice. You chose to save me, you chose to stay, and you chose to fight tooth and nail to find your way home to your mom. Your family is all of us. And nothing anyone else can say will change that, okay?” 

Luz sniffles a little louder and looks to her mom for confirmation. If she can, she wants all of her family. Her mom smiles softly, and kneels in front of her. “Of course we’re all your family Mija, I love you so much, and if these people make you happy, then Bienvenida a la familia.” (Welcome to the family)

Luz manages to dry her tears and smile happily at the two adults in front of her. Welcome to the family. She snuggles up to Eda, getting comfortable, all of this crying really tired her out. 

“I love you guys..” She says while beginning to doze. Human school is really exhausting. She can hear whispers of a conversation, but can’t bother to attempt to understand it. She just lets herself sleep, surrounded by family. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz is woken up by the sound of her phone alarm. She’s too content to move. Luz shoves at her phone until it stops its incessant ringing. There are fingers running through her hair, and Luz is absolutely ready to just go back to sleep. 

“Luz, you should probably get ready for school.” It’s Eda’s voice, and that shocks her back to awareness. Her eyes open to find Eda sitting on the couch with Luz’s head on her lap.

She sits up slowly, taking in a lot of information. She is still wearing the clothes from yesterday. Luz is quick to run upstairs and get changed. 

She runs back downstairs and goes into the kitchen, where her mom is waiting with some eggs and bacon. 

“Buenos dias querida. I made breakfast!” (Good morning dear) She places a plate on the table as Luz sits down. 

“Mornin’ mami.” Luz says around a mouthful of eggs. She continuously shoves them into her mouth, barely taking the time to chew.

“Careful mija, you don’t want to choke.” Luz shrugs, and finishes up her eggs. 

She rushes out of the house soon after, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. The walk seems to take longer than usual, whether it’s because her backpack seemed heavier or she was still tired. 

She walks into her first period, setting her bag onto her desk with a thump. Luz takes her seat as class begins.

“Alright, everyone take out your journals and do your warm-up.” Luz unzips her bag slowly, gasping when she sees King, fast asleep in her bag. She zips up her bag and her hand shoots up as quickly as possible. 

“Uh. sir? Can I go to the bathroom?” His face contorts into something of annoyance, but he sighs. 

“Make it quick.”

Luz mumbles out a thank you before rushing out of the room with her bag in hand. She ignores the murmurs from her class as she lands in the bathroom. She unzips her bag and picks King up. “King?! What are you doing in my bag?!” 

King looks up happily. “I wanted to go to school with you! It’s dumb that you have to stay here for so long! And I.. I missed you.” He admits softly, looking away. 

Luz sniffles, eyes sparkling with happiness. “Awww King! I missed you too!!” She hugs him tightly as he wiggles. “But you shouldn’t be here. People here aren’t like the people in the isles. They’ve never seen a demon before.” 

King looks dissatisfied with that answer. But he relents. “Fine. I’ll stay in your bag for the day! But I demand belly scratches when I get home.” 

Luz nods and presses a kiss to his forehead. “Of course King, belly scratches and snacks.” 

He gets back into the bag and Luz goes down the walk of shame back to class. She tries to slide in unnoticed, but the class whispers about her as soon as she walks in. This might as well happen. Luz sits down and attempts to take notes. 

Second period, Nat is waiting for her. “Hey, you looked pretty upset yesterday, you good?” 

Luz smiles brightly. “I’m good! I’m doing better today.” The fact Nat was willing to check on her, just makes Luz so happy. 

Nat nods at Luz, sitting directly behind her. “I’m pretty sure we're just working on the english project today. So it’s basically a free day for you.”

Luz shrugs, she does basically have everything done because she had already read her novel. “Well, yeah… I did already write most of the presentation.” 

“Then we can just hang out.” Nat shoves Luz’s backpack to the side, jostling King. He lets out a surprised squeak. 

Luz looks around to make sure no one else has noticed. She was lucky on that front, but Nat is grabbing her bag. “What was that?” 

Luz yanks it from her hands, making King make a noise of annoyance. “Nothing!” Luz says, covering her bag with her upper body, 

Nat raises an eyebrow, showing she doesn’t buy that for a second. She holds eye contact with Luz for five seconds until Luz cracks. 

“Okay, fine! But you can’t tell anyone, okay?” Nat nods as Luz unzips the backpack. 

Nat’s browns furrow in confusion when she spots King. “Is it...some kind of pet?” 

Luz shakes her head. “No, King is my friend.” King pokes his head out. 

“I’m her best friend.” King corrects. “And ruler of demons.”

Nat is grinning from ear to ear. “He’s adorable. And he can speak english!”

“Yeah… You still can’t tell anyone though. I don’t want Tiffany or any of her lackeys to find him.” 

Nat nods in understanding. “Yeah, I get that. Don’t worry. This cutie pie can be our little secret!” She pets him from within the bag and he seems content to stay there. 

“Luz! She gives good tummy scratches! You gotta keep her.” Luz laughs.

“Actually, uh, I’m not a girl. I’m nonbianary. More of a them than a her” Nat explains, making Luz look up in shock. 

“Whhaaaaat?! Oh no! I’ve been misgendering you this whole time!! I’m sorry!” Luz says, immediately making a mental note to change Nat’s pronouns from she to they in her mind. 

Nat chuckles softly. “No, it’s okay. I didn’t really tell you either.” 

They spend the rest of class talking with each other and King. Nat is a lot of fun to be around, and they don’t mind Luz’s weirder traits. 

All three are sad when the bell rings. “See you Monday, Nat!” Luz calls as she makes her way to the lunchroom. 

Luz clutches her backpack strings to her chest tightly, knowing that King is there is both comforting and unnerving. King is a great comfort, a little piece of the isles, but there’s also a chance of Tiffany seeing him, or someone else, and trying to take him. 

It’s raining outside today, meaning she can’t hide from Tiffany. She sits at her normal table, not bothering to speak to anyone else there. She pulls out her lunch. 

“Psst! Luz!” Comes the stage whisper from her backpack. “Do you have any snacks?” 

The other kids at the table glance over, but they seem content enough to just watch. Luz rips her sandwich in half before sliding half of it into her bag. She’s ready to just eat her lunch. 

“Hey, Luzer! What’s with shoving half your sandwich in your bag? Omg. Are you poor now? I thought your mom was a doctor?” Tiffany laughs cruelly as Luz’s face burns. Of course she would do it in front of King.

“Excuse me?!” Comes the angry reply from her backpack. Tiffany pauses to look in shock. Luz facepalms harshly. 

“What the fuck was that?” King is already squirming his way out of the backpack. 

“Tremble before me, worthless human! The King of demons!” He stands on the table, his little front paws on his hips. 

“Aww, what a cute toy.” Tiffany says reaching out to him. “I want it.”

Before Tiffany can get her grubby hands on King, Luz grabs him and pulls him into her arms. “He’s not a toy. He’s my friend.” 

Tiffany barks out a laugh. “Wow… you really have no friends!” King growls, but Luz covers his mouth. “Fucking freak.” Tiffany says before walking away.

Luz has to hold King until he calms enough that she can let him go. 

“Why do you let her treat you like that? You at least stood up to Boscha.” King says, looking concerned. 

“It’s better to just ignore it. She’s only picking on me anyways.” Luz explains. “Besides, I’m used to it.” 

King is frowning. And Luz knows that look. He’s thinking, and that’s never a good idea. What if he tells Eda? Or her mom? They can’t know about Tiffany. They’re both under enough stress. 

“You have to promise you won’t tell Eda, Please.” King looks over in shock.

“Why not?!” 

“She’s already been dealing with so much, and she’s barely adjusting to not having magic anymore--this is just too much.” 

King looks like he wants to argue, but he frowns and sighs. “Fine… I won’t tell Eda, but if it gets worse, tell someone, please?” 

Luz nods, not mentioning that she has already tried. People don’t listen to her here. She’s used to it. King seems hesitant, but satisfied with her promise to find someone to help. 

The rest of the day goes by quick, Tiffany shoves her again, but thanks to King she doesn’t get hurt too bad. They make it home and Eda and her mom are talking over some tea. 

“Welcome home, mija. How was school?” Luz smiles.

“It was good.” She pulls King from her bag. “This little sinvergüenza snuck into my backpack.” (Scoundrel) She says happily, scratching his belly. He makes a happy sound. 

“Oh, yeah, I was wondering where he ran off to.” King jumps down, running into Eda’s arms.

“Human school sucks!!” He proclaims, crossing his arms. 

Luz ‘awws’ at his frustration. It’s so cute. 

“Alright, King. We should get going.” Eda says, walking towards Luz. She ruffes Luz’s hair before smiling softly. “One more week, kid. I’ll see ya’ then.”

Luz nods, grinning. “See you then, Eda.” 

After they leave she eats dinner with her mom before finishing up her Hexide homework. Her human school work goes untouched. But with all of this done, and the thought of getting something for Amity tomorrow, lets her fall asleep pretty quickly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz wakes up a few hours later than normal on saturday. Adjusting to normal school is exhausting. The amount of work they get and have to focus on is terrible. 

But! She sits up in bed, realizing it’s the day to get a gift for Amity! And it has to be the perfect gift. 

Luz rolls out of bed and rushes to find a good outfit. Maybe she could get something she already has...then her and Amity could match. The thought brings a slight blush to her face. It would be like a little Azura Book Club member badge. 

Once she’s done getting dressed, she rushes out to find her mom. Who is reading in bed. Once she notices Luz’s presence, she smiles. 

“What’s up, Mija?” There’s a fondness in her voice as Luz rocks onto her heels, obviously excited.

“When do you want to go out? To get that gift, for my friend.” She explains impatiently. If it was up to Luz, they would already be heading out to the store. 

“Oh! I forgot about that! Let me get ready and then we can go to your little anime store.” She puts a bookmark in her book, and Luz rushes out to get breakfast ready for both of them. 

Luz makes nutella toast and her mom is out by the time it’s done. “Here you go mami!” 

Her mom takes her time to eat, much to Luz’s internal dismay. She tries to keep it together, but she can’t help but bounce impatiently. She’s also fidgeting with her hands. Her mom is taking so long. 

“Alright, mija, let’s go get your friend a gift.” Her mom grabs a bag and makes her way out the door. Luz follows happily. 

The two get in the car before heading to her weeb store. Only select places sell Azura merch, and while she isn’t that interested in some of the other things there, they have such a wide selection that it’s worth it. 

Luz squeals excitedly as she enters the store. There is merch from wall to wall. All from different fandoms, and in the back, there is a corner dedicated to nothing but Azura merchandise. It’s been Luz’s personal heaven for years. 

She looks carefully. Maybe a charm? She has one just like it, but it seems impersonal, like she just saw something that had Azura and got it because it was the cheapest item. A t-shirt? Amity’s not the type to publicly announce her love of Azura. It’s gotta be subtle, but not too subtle. 

Then. She spots it. A simple set of two pins with Azura and Hecate on them. The two are holding hands, with a quote from the book at the bottom. It’s a matching set. Perfect for Amity. She grabs that along with a Malengail the Mysterious pin. 

Luz runs the pins to her mom. “Mami! Mami! They’re perfect!! Look!” Her mom examines the pins before smiling. 

“Alright Mija, let’s go then.” Then they buy the pins and go home. 

The rest of the day is relaxing and spending time with her mom. Luz ends up falling asleep on the couch, her head on her mom’s shoulder and a smile on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz is woken up sunday morning to a soft knock on her door. She sits up slowly. “Come in.” She calls to who she assumes is her mom. 

The door swings open and Gus and Willow come busting through. Luz gasps in excitement as she gets two large hugs by her friends. 

“Willow! Gus! You guys are early!” 

“We were so excited we got up super early and snuck into your house!” Willow says happily. 

“And… I brought a journal to document everything!!” Guz adds excitedly, holding up a journal. 

“You guys are great! Let me get dressed, then we can go?” The two nod excitedly before leaving the room. 

Luz gets dressed as quickly as possible, so excited for the prospect of spending time with her friends. She slides her socks on before walking to her moms room. She walks into an empty room. Oh, right. Her mom has to work today. Luz sends her a text, letting her know that she will be going out toda, before joining her friends downstairs. 

“Alright! Who’s ready to experience the sights!” Luz exclaims, sliding on her shoes. Willow and Gus respond with resounding cheers. 

The three eagerly head out, Luz leading the way to the first stop of the day.

It’s a small thrift store that Luz frequents often. Things are sold for cheap. Gus is immediately running throughout the store, pointing out all of the ‘strange human things’. Willow finds a pink flower print dress that makes her eyes light up. 

Luz slides behind her, “Oh! That’s super cute!” 

“I know, right! How many snails is it?” Willow asks, grinning happily. Oh yeah, Luz almost forgot about the difference between Earth and Boiling Isles currency. Luckily, she spent one summer dog walking to try and get enough money to get the fifth Azura book. But her mom ended up getting it for her. So she was going to save it for the sixth. But her friends are more important. 

“Oh! Don’t worry about it! Earth’s currency is different. So I’ll just get it.” She says, gingerly taking the dress from Willow.

“I can’t let you do that Luz.” Willow says while frowning. Luz finds it adorable. 

“Yes you can! I saved up so it’s okay! Nothing is too much for my best friends!” She gently lays the dress on her arm before heading to find Gus. 

Willow makes a noise of displeasure as she walks after Luz. They find Gus huddled in a corner and scribbling in his notebook. “Uh.. Gus?” 

Gus’ head snaps up quickly. “Guys! I am learning so much about humans! This is the best!” 

Luz smiles at her friend’s happiness. “Nice, Gus! See anything you want?” 

“I can get a real human item?!” He squeals out, before proceeding to spend ten whole minutes attempting to decide the best human object to take home with him. It takes Willow finally losing her patience for Gus to decide on a mounted singing bass fish. Willow was not amused to say the least.

She buys them quickly and it’s only $5 total. “Okay! Boba next!” 

The three make the 30 minute walk to the boba shop. It may be a little exhausting, but it's so worth it. The three walk up to the counter, and Luz already knows what she wants, but she gives her two friends time to decide. 

“What is Boba?” Willow asks, examining all of the menu items. 

“It’s like this chewy ball of starch at the bottom of the drink. They taste really good. I prefer the popping boba though, that one is like little exploding balls of syrup.” She explains, pointing out the particular things on the menu. 

It takes several long discussions, with Luz explaining what most things are, for the other two to select their choice of drinks. Willow chooses a brown sugar milk tea with regular boba, and Gus, being unable to choose, goes with a taro smoothie with regular boba, lychee jelly, egg pudding and mango popping boba. Luz just gets her regular, a chocolate smoothie with strawberry popping boba. 

She takes her straw and places her thumb on the top of the straw. “So, you have to do it like this, to create a vacuum. Then you just-” She brings the straw down, stabbing it through the plastic covering. “And enjoy!” 

The two copy her motions, Gus is holding the straw upside down until Luz gingerly takes it from him, flipping it in her hand before giving it back to Gus. He stabs it and takes a sip. 

“Wow!” He says around a mouthful of toppings. “So chewy!” 

Willow sips at her milk tea, her eyes sparkling in awe. “It’s so nice!” 

Luz is already slurping at her drink. “I’m glad you guys like it!” 

“You should take Amity here sometime. She would like it!” Willow says softly.

Luz looks up. “You don’t think she hates me now?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Willow’s brows furrow in confusion. “Of course she doesn’t. Especially after we told her why, she understood.”

A grin pushes its way onto Luz’s face. If Willow says she doesn’t hate her, well, Willow is often right. She should take Amity out for boba. Maybe she could let her try her drink, it would be cute. She can feel her face burning. Willow clears her throat and Luz looks up to a deadpan expression. 

“You were just daydreaming about taking Amity on a date, weren’t you?” 

Luz’s eyes widen. “What-I-uh-no! Maybe!” She takes a large gulp of her drink to avoid having to talk. Willow gives her an incredulous look, but Gus takes pity. 

“So, where to next?” Gus asks, swallowing some more jelly. 

“Next is lunch at my favorite sandwich shop! We can finish our drinks on the way there!” Luz picks up all of their straw wrappers and throws them away. 

Then the three head out. Thankfully it’s only a ten minute walk to the shop, which goes by fast with her best friends. 

She lets them choose what they want on the way there. Online menus are great for walking around town. By the time they walk inside, Luz knows everyone's orders. 

She walks up to the counter, only to see Nat. Luz smiles and waves at them. 

“Oh, hey Luz. And company.” Nat greets, looking a little dead on the inside. “What can I get you?”

Luz tells them the three orders. “How long have you worked here for, Nat?”

“Only three months. I’m saving up for a gift for my sister.” They explain, taking the cash. “So, who are your friends?” 

Luz grins, pulling the two up. “This is Willow and Gus! They’re my best friends! Willow, Gus, this is Nat, they’re my first school friend. Ever!” The two in question wave awkwardly. Nat smiles tensely. 

“Weren’t you and Tiffany friends?” 

Luz’s face drops immediately. Never. She never had any friends. Offline. “No.” She says, a little sharply. “She’s never liked me. Who told you that?” 

Willow and Gus got a little defensive at the mention of Tiffany. “Remember when she was trying to tell me not to hang out with you?” Luz nods, Willow wraps an arm around Luz’s shoulders, helping her relax. “She said you two used to hang out.” 

“She was lying.” Luz explains. 

Nat, for their part, looks a little guilty. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I get off in like, five minutes. If you want, I can take y’all to a nice spot in the park.”

Luz smiles tensely. “It’s alright. But if Willow and Gus want to?” She looks over to her friends. 

“Yes!” Gus says, giving Willow pleading eyes. She’s quick to give in. “Alright.”

“Aright, cool. Just lemme just finish my shift, then we can go.” 

The three go to sit at a table and grab their sandwiches. 

Willow is hovering over Luz protectively. “If they upset you again, I’ll fight them.” 

Luz smiles sweetly. “Thanks Willow, but it’s okay. They’re not like Tiffany. It was just a misunderstanding.” Willow nods tensely. She is filled with warmth at how Willow defends her. Having friends like Willow, Gus, and Amity make her okay with leaving the human world behind. Luz leans her head onto Willow’s shoulder. 

The three begin to eat their lunch as Nat finishes their shift and gathers their things. The Willow is halfway done, Luz is mostly done, and Gus has completely devoured his sandwich by the time Nat is at the table.

“Y’all ready to go?” The three nod and gather their things before following Nat out the door. The walk is quick, but also awkward. No one says anything besides Gus, who is scribbling in his journal while excitedly stating all of his observations out loud. 

“Okay, here we are.” It’s a small little spot behind a clearing of trees. It is filled to the brim with little flowers and there are five little tree stumps that are perfect for stools. Willow gaps in excitement. 

“Look at all of these little friends!” She leans down to them, gently stroking the petals. 

"Yeah, this is where me and my little sister go to have some peace and quiet." Nat says, taking a seat on one of the stumps. 

"You have a little sister?!" Luz asks happily. 

"Yeah. That's actually why I know Tiffany. Her little sister and mine are friends." They explain, seeming none too happy with the mere mention of Tiffany. 

Willow is scowling. "I hate people like her. They remind me of Boscha. Or Amity before she met you." She says, motioning to Luz. "She doesn't deserve anything she has and she definitely shouldn't just get to pick on you like that-" 

Luz looks down to find the flowers growing. Nat also noticed it, panic growing on their face as the flowers wrap around them. 

"Willow, calm down." Luz says softly, rubbing her back gently. "You're getting too worked up." 

Willow inhales deeply and exhales shakily, she visibly calms and the plants return to their normal size.

"Whaaaaaat?" Nat whispers, staring at the flowers and Willow.

Luz and Willow look away uncomfortably while Gus continues to write, not bothered by the scene in front of him. 

"Ah, well, you see, it's- ugh. No puedo explicar." (I can't explain) She rubs her face. "It's just something Willow can do." 

Nat stares at the two for a long pause. "Is it related to how King can talk?" 

Luz nods slowly, hoping she won't ask a lot more questions. 

"Okay, well, as terrifying and kinda hot as Willow losing her shit and controlling plants are, I'm assuming it's none of my business. So I'm just gonna not talk about it." 

"Thank you." Willow and Luz say at the same time. 

Gus suddenly looks up. "Luz! I almost forgot! Did you finish your homework yet?" 

Luz perks up at the thought of a distraction. "Yep!" She pulls it out of her bag. "It's all right here!" 

Willow takes it, gently putting it into her bag. "I'll get it to all of your teachers!" 

Nat stares. "Okay, I said I'm not gonna ask about the plant magic shit, and I won't. But you went missing for at least three months?? And enrolled in school??? And apparently made a bunch of friends that are magic????"

Luz nods. "It was more like 6 months, but yeah. It's...difficult. I'm a weirdo here. No one likes me. I'm surprised you haven't left yet, to be honest. Before you, I literally had no friends. My mom tried to send me to camp, but I ended up meeting them. And well," she wraps an arm around Willow and Gus. "Us weirdos have to stick together." 

Nat smiles at the three. "That's.. Really sweet actually. I suppose I understand. People here are really judgemental. Were it not for my sister, I would be very different."

Luz smiles. "Well, if you ever need someone to be a weirdo with, I'm your girl." 

Nat laughs, throwing their head back. "I'll keep that in mind." 

The three spend hours there, talking about school and annoying girls, Luz barely realizes it's dark when she hears her name being called. It's definitely Eda. 

"Luz! Kid! Where are you?! Your mom's getting worried." Luz shoots up.

"Oh heck! If she sent Eda, I'm in trouble." She scrambles out of the clearing, her three friends in tow. She finds herself right in front of Eda. 

"There you are kid." She looks behind her. "Dweebus. Plant girl. Human." 

Willow and Gus respond with waves. "Hi Eda." Willow says awkwardly. 

"You worried us, Luz." Eda says seriously. 

"I'm sorry Eda, I lost track of time--and I wanted to show Willow and Gus so much and--" 

She's cut off when Eda puts a hand on her head. "Don't worry about it, kid. Let's just get everyone home." Luz nods and hugs her tightly. Eda just hugs her back, finally used to the hugs. 

"Uhhh," Nat says, "I'm just gonna go. I don't live too far away." 

Eda is already shaking her head. "I can give you a ride, kid. Owlbert here is stronger than you think." She says motioning to her staff. "Pile on kids. Luz, you and dweebus can dangle."

Luz and Gus both whoop at the prospect of dangling. It's basically a swing attached to Owlbert so more people can fit on the staff. Luz and Gus get situated while Willow helps Nat onto the staff, who is blushing a bit. 

"I don't see how…" Nat says, holding onto Willow. 

"It'll be okay! Just hold tight to me and tell Eda where we're going!" Willow says, moving Nat's arms so they're around her waist. 

"Everyone good?" Eda asks, but doesn't wait for a response before taking off. 

Nat immediately screams, but calms fairly quickly. 

Luz and Gus are soaring through the air, laughing happily. Willow is keeping a hold on Eda while Nat clings to Willow. They give Eda the directions and soon, they are landing in front of their house. 

"Bye Nat!!" Luz says. "See you tomorrow!"

"Nice to meet you!" Gus exclaims, waving happily.

"Bye Nat, you're pretty cool." Willow says, smiling softly. 

Nat's face lights up like a Christmas tree. "B-bye!" They call, running inside. 

"Huh, what a strange kid." Eda says, before hauling the last three kids to Luz's house.

Once they make it there Eda presses a kiss to Luz's forehead. "5 more days." Luz smiles.

She hugs both Willow and Gus, whispering a goodbye into their ears. 

"Goodnight guys.." She says, making her way inside. Once the door closes, her mom is on the couch waiting. 

"Mija, where were you?" 

"I was with my friend, Nat! We lost track of time, I'm sorry Mami." She can see her mom's expression soften immediately. 

"That's okay, mija. Just text me next time, okay." Luz nods. 

The rest of the night is quick. She eats dinner before going to her room and passing out. School will not be fun tomorrow. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Luz wakes up Monday morning with a pounding head and no hope for the day. She slugs her way out of bed, basically wobbling towards her dresser. 

She throws her clothes on, not bothering to look or brush her hair, everything hurts too much. She feels like she’s either going to pass out or throw up. Maybe both. 

Luz hobbles down the stairs, brain not quite working properly. She sits at the table while her mom works on breakfast. Her mom turns around, then pauses. 

“Mija? Are you alright?” Concern is written on all of her features as she kneels down beside Luz, putting a hand on her forehead. The cool hand is a relief and Luz finds herself relaxing into it. 

“Mah head hurts.” She says as another dizzy spell washes over her. Only this time, the spell doesn’t fade. Her ears are ringing and her vision is getting blurrier. She can tell her mom is speaking, but she can’t hear her. The last thing Luz sees is the outline of her mom before everything goes black.

~

Luz wakes up to two people talking and a hand running through her hair. She doesn’t feel like opening her eyes just yet, so she listens.

“I was just so worried about her…” It’s her mom. That’s who is running their fingers through her hair. “She’s been having trouble making friends and staying out of trouble. I never wanted to send her away. I just… wanted her to learn to separate fantasy from reality.” Her voice sounded strained, it made guilt coil in Luz’s gut. 

“Luz is…something special.” Eda. Luz is tempted to jump up, but she doesn’t want to interrupt them. “I think at first, she thought the Isles was a place like her books. She was so easily trusting. Ran into a wizard who told her she was a chosen one. But, along the way she stopped combining the two. She still enjoys her book, and that..flowery language,” Luz can hear the shudder in her voice. “But she also knows the difference between her books and real life.” 

Her mom laughs, but she can hear the sadness in it. “Maybe it was for the best, her being in your magical world. You all were able to help her more than I ever could.” 

“It’s never that simple. In reality, she helped us. Before Luz, I was wasting my life and magic away. But, Luz and her endless optimism brought something we were missing from the Isles. She cares so much, and that’s something you nurtured and allowed to grow. Luz needed something different then, but she also needs you now.” 

That’s so sweet. Luz wants to cry, but her head still kinda hurts and she’s pretending to be asleep, so no crying for her. 

“Thank you, Eda.” Her mom says tensely.

There’s no response, or, she thinks there’s no response, because sleep is sounding better by the second. Falling asleep is no problem. 

~

Waking up, however, is terrible. Her throat is dry, and she’s both hungry and disgusting. There’s still a hand in her hair. She groans and tries to curl up on herself. 

“Woah, Mija.” Her mom says softly, helping her sit up. “Cuiada.” (Careful) Luz leans against the couch, mumbling pitifully. Her mom moves away, Luz squints her eyes and barely sees her walking towards the kitchen.

There’s a cup being pushed into her hands. “Here kid, sip at this.” It’s Eda. She holds the glass gingerly and takes a small sip. 

It’s strangely sweet. Her face scrunches up a bit at the taste. Then hands are running through her hair again, and she doesn’t care about the taste. She takes another sip and sighs as the uncomfortable feeling in her throat eases. Sure, her head still feels like death, but at least she doesn’t feel like she’s about to throw up. 

“Thanks Eda.” Luz says, taking her time on the drink. 

Eda gasps playfully. “She speaks.” Eda is next to her smiling softly. “Your mom is making you some dinner in the kitchen. Just relax for now.” 

Luz nods and leans on Eda's Shoulder. Eventually she finishes the drink, and she already feels a lot better, and a lot hungrier. Now that her stomach no longer feels like it’s going to implode, the lack of food is finally catching up to her. 

Her mom walks out of the kitchen. “Soup and crackers. Abuelas recipe.” She hands over the bowl, which Luz takes gratefully. 

“Gracias mami.” (Thanks mom) 

“De nada, mija.” (you're welcome mija) 

Luz is sipping at her soup straight from the bowl. Why bother with a spoon. 

Her mom comes back with two more bowls, handing one to Eda and sitting on the other side of Luz.

“Mija, I wish you would just eat it with a spo-” Luz watches as all of her mom's hope leaves her eyes as Eda sips at the soup from the bowl. She sighs heavily as Eda takes a large gulp. 

“This is good soup.” Eda says, and Luz’s mom just smiles, exasperated. 

“Thank you, Eda.” Eda sends her a smile over her bowl, and this is the most content Luz has felt since she had to come back to Earth. She’s squished between her mom and Eda, there’s soup in her belly and for once she doesn’t have to worry about anything. She can just relax. 

“I love you guys.” Luz says, and she means it. She loves them so much. 

“Te quiero mija.” (I love you mija)

“I love you too, Luz.” 

Luz relaxes, her eyes slipping closed yet again. Her bowl of soup is still on her lap and her two parents talking quietly above her. Sleep comes quickly yet again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz woke up feeling much better. There was no pounding head or unsettling anxiety of previous days. She got ready quickly, excited to see Nat. 

She runs down to the kitchen. “Morning, mija. Feeling better?” 

Luz nods, grabbing her bag and breakfast. “Later, Mami, love you.”

“Love you too!” She calls as Luz rushes out the door. 

Luz rushes to the school, one hand fiddling in her jacket pocket. She frowns when she realizes there’s something foreign in there. Then it hits her. Her gifts for Amity! She’ll need to take extra care to keep it in her pocket. 

Luz walks into her first period, Tiffany gawking at her. But since it’s so close to the bell, she doesn’t get to say anything. The teacher is at the front, and is talking for a little, but then basically says it's a free day. Luz is so ready to read on her phone for the entire class, however, Tiffany isn’t going to let her have a moment of peace. 

Tiffany struts up to her, Luz looks anywhere but at Tiffany and sees a girl with pale green hair. She has to do a double take, but the hairstyle is different. It’s not Amity. 

Tiffany leans down to Luz. “I thought you had finally bailed, Luzer. What, did your freakshow decide that you’re not welcome there, either?” 

“I was sick, Tiffany.” Luz says, refusing to look at her. 

“Sure. Your little kidnappers probably just decided they didn’t want yo-”

“Can you shut up.” Luz recognizes that voice immediately. How could she not? Not only was it her rival-turned-crush but also her friend. 

Luz’s head spins around so fast that she can feel it pop. And there, in all of her glory, stands Amity Blight. Her hair is down, which in Luz’s humble opinion, is beautiful. 

She can feel her face beginning to burn. “Amity.” She says softly, stars in her eyes. Amity turns to Luz, smirking softly.

“Hey Luz.” And suddenly, many things lock into place. 

For one, she definitely has a crush on Amity. For two Luz would do anything to see her smile. And finally, Tiffany is going to double up on the bullying after Amity is through with her, but Luz could not care less at this point. Not if Amity keeps smiling like that. 

Tiffany looks between the two. “Wait. Amity? Like! Kidnapper that you-” The bell rings before she can finish that sentence, thankfully. Tiffany grabs her things, but glares at Luz. She knows it’s not over. 

“Kidnapper?” Amity asks, obviously hesitant. 

“Oh! Um! That’s just something she has been rolling with. Don’t worry about it.” Luz says waving her arms. The two walk to Luz’s next class, chatting awkwardly. 

“Wait!” Luz says once the two are in the classroom, digging around in her pocket. “I, um, have something for you.” 

Amity blinks in surprise as Luz pulls out the two pins. “Here! I have a matching one. It’s like an Azura Book Club badge!” 

Amity holds the pins tenderly, her face slowly turning red. “Thank you, Luz. I love y-them. Them. I love them.” 

Luz grins brightly. She loves them. Perfect. Nothing can ruin this. 

Then Nat coughs awkwardly. “I hate to interrupt… but maybe you should sit down.” That means the class is staring. Oh well. She sits down, motioning for Amity to sit next to her. 

Amity takes a seat next to her and Nat eyes the two. 

Luz can't stop grinning as her teacher explains they'll be working on the project. Well, Luz had already finished so she can just talk to Amity. Amity is spending the day with her, which is insane. And amazing. The second he's done talking she turns to Amity. 

"I'm so excited that you're here! Don't you have school though?" Realization dawns on her face. "You skipped, didn't you! That's awesome!" 

Amity blushes heavily, averting her eyes. "Oh…well, I-uh-wanted to make sure you were okay." 

Luz's smile grows wider, if that's even possible.

"Psst. Who's this?" Nat asks suddenly, pointing at Amity. 

"Who's asking?" Amity says sharply. She probably assumed Nat was like Tiffany. 

"Oh! It's alright! This is Amity. Amity, this is Nat." Amity looks Nat up and down. 

"Nice to meet you." Nat says, more than a little confused. 

"Nice to meet you too." Amity responds, obviously hesitant.

"How's Hexide doing? Is Boscha still laying off Willow?" Luz asks suddenly, worried that things will become awkward. Amity looks up quickly. 

"To be honest, it's boring without you there." Amity says with an awkward laugh. "But Willow is doing alright as far as I can see. If Boscha gets too close I tend to try and separate them." 

Luz smiles happily. They're getting along. 

"Uhhh, how does one get away with bullying Willow? When she could just--" Nat asks, moving their hand in a squiggly upward motion. 

Luz takes a moment. Did they not realize that everyone there does magic? "Oh, um, Boscha is just like that." 

Amity nods in agreement. She knows better than anyone here that Boscha really is just like that. 

Nat frowns, but lets it go. She doesn't really have a choice anyways because the bell rings. 

Luz grabs Amity's hand gently. "Bye Nat!" She calls as she leads Amity to the lunchroom. 

She and Amity walk to the lunchroom, her eyes darting all round. 

Luz grins. "So, what do you think of human school?" 

Amity rolls her eyes. "It's terrible."

"I know, right?!" Luz says, bringing her to sit at the table. 

Luz brings out her lunch, giving half of it to Amity. "O-oh. You don't have to-"

"It's fine! I want to." Luz says, and any refusal that Amity has seems to die on her tongue. She takes half of her lunch and begins to eat it quietly. 

The two chat quietly about nothing in particular, then Luz feels something hit the back of her head. It squelches into her hair. She lets out a shocked noise before touching it. Mashed potatoes? Seriously? 

Amity looked pissed as Tiffany saunters over to Luz, a grin on her face. "Awww, do you not like that?" 

Amity's face is blood red. "I don't know what your deal is-"

"No, you don't know what my deal is. Because if you did, you probably wouldn't stop me. Look, she's a freak. And you're better off not hanging out with her." Tiffany says, and Luz's face burns in shame.

Amity's face is blank, and Luz is almost worried that she realized that Tiffany is right. Then her face contorts into a scowl. 

"How dare you! Luz is the nicest, most caring, and all around the best person I've met! So what if she's a little strange! Who isn't! She's a better person than you could ever be! Luz deserves better than you people." 

Tiffany looks angry, but not as angry as Amity. But before anything could happen. "Is this girl bothering you, mittens?"

Luz looks over to see Edric and Emira on either side of Tiffany. Amity glowers at the three. "If she says anything about Luz again I'm going to-" 

"What's she saying about Luz?" Emira asks, eyes narrowing at Tiffany. 

"How did you get older kids on your side, Luzer? You convinced them you weren't a freak of nature somehow?" She says, getting more flustered and angered as more people defend Luz. 

"Hey! You don't get to talk to her like that! Especially when those shoes with that shirt are the real freak of nature." Edric says, looking her up and down. 

Emira laughs. "You're right, Edric. It's hard to find someone with so much confidence, yet so little style. Take what's left of your pride, and leave." 

Tiffany rushes away, unable to respond to those chaos twins. 

"What's her deal?" Edric asks as she retreats to her friends. 

"Oh,,, she just hates me. It's no big deal. What are you guys doing here, anyways?" She asks, dodging the question. 

Emira grins evilly. "We just had to make sure our baby sister was okay, especially after she snuck out and skipped school. We had to see what was so important." 

"Also we're the ones with illusion magic who can make sure she doesn't get caught." Edric adds. 

"And make her look human." Emira says, trying to pinch her little sister's cheeks. 

Amity pushes the two aside. "Basically, they followed me out, and gave me human ears." 

Luz grins at the three brightly, and wraps them all in a tight hug. "Thank you guys, so much." 

"Anytime, Luz." Amity says, while the twins peer over Luz's shoulder. 

"Are those mashed potatoes in your hair?" They ask in sync. 

Luz nods, chuckling awkwardly. 

Lunch ends and the twins decide to go back to Hexide, and Amity wants to stick out the rest of the day with her. Spending the day with Amity is amazing in a way she couldn't have imagined 6 months ago. 

The two talk about Azura. All. Day. They don't run out of things to talk about, because they both don't mind talking about something they've already discussed. They mentioned Azura's inherent bisexuality no less than 4 times. 

Every time she looks at Amity, Luz can't help but grin, a warm feeling bubbling up inside of her. Maybe it's the fact that she's here, and even though she knows that Luz isn't liked here, she still stayed. 

The two are able to get out of the school with little trouble. Then Tiffany feels the need to act again. Luz gets shoved, hitting the sidewalk. Her face skids a little. Amity gasps, running to her side. Tiffany laughs, walking past. "See you tomorrow, Luzer." Amity growls, but Luz reaches out. 

"Wait. It's not worth it." Amity inhales sharply, but once she gets a look at Luz's face, her anger is replaced with worry. She gently places her hand under Luz's chin and lifts it to get a better look at her injuries.

Luz can feel her face heating up. Amity leans in close. "With this spell declared, let the pain be shared." It's soft, and filled with an emotion that Luz cannot place. She inhales shakily as she feels the pain in her face lessen. 

"Amity… You didn't have to do that." She can see the soft scrapes that are also on Amity's face. 

Amity smiles. "I know. It's easier for me to get healed, so I really don't mind taking on a little bit of pain." 

Luz looks up at her with bright eyes. "Thank you.." 

Amity looks away, her face turning pink. She mumbles out something that Luz can't really hear. 

The two climb to their feet and begin their walk to the small cabin near Luz's house. 

It's in silence until Amity speaks up. "Why do you let her talk to you like that?" 

"Oh, uh, I mean… it's always been like that. It's easier if I don't do anything." She says, rubbing her arm. 

Amity frowns. "You don't let Boscha do that to Willow." 

"That's different." Luz says, maybe a little sharply. But it is. 

"How? She treats you just as bad. If not worse." 

Luz realizes that she should probably calm down. Amity doesn't know. But that's the problem, isn't it, no one ever knows. Luz is rambling before she even realizes.

"Because over here, people don't care about me. I've been dealing with this for years. I tell someone, they don't believe me. I talk back, I get in trouble. And god forbid I fight back. They can hit me, bruise me, do whatever they want, but I shove someone off of me, and I get detention for a month. And my mom is so busy and stressed with work that she can't know. It would cause so much unnecessary stress for her. And I can't do that to her-"

She's cut off when two arms wrap tightly around her. A sniffle makes it way past her throat. Then another. And another. Soon she's crying into Amity's shoulder in the middle of the sidewalk. Amity holds her as she cries, and if she looked, Luz would have seen tears running down Amity's face as well. The two stand there, trying to pull themselves together. 

"Thank you, Amity. You know, you Willow and Gus are my first friends. And I can't thank you enough." 

With that, Amity's grip on Luz pulls tighter. "You don't need to thank me, Luz." 

"It's just for three more days, right? Then you get to come back to the isles?" Amity asks, sounding small. Luz nods into her shoulder. "Good. Then I can't be here tomorrow or Thursday, but Friday, I'll be with you all day. I'll even help you pack." 

Luz breaks the hug and stares at Amity before a grin breaks out onto her face. "Thank you, Amity." 

Then the two are back on their path. Amity really does need to get home before Lilith or her parents notice. Once they make it to the cabin, Luz smiles at Amity. 

"I'll see you Friday." Amity says with a small smile. 

"See you Friday." Luz says, before pressing a quick kiss to Amity's cheek. It was impulsive, but hopefully Amity won't react too badly. 

Amity looks up in shock, her face bright red. "L-luz you--" 

Before she can say anything else, the door to the isles open. Amity looks between the door and Luz. 

"We can talk about it Friday if you want!" Luz calls to her. Amity nods, grinning. Then she's gone. Luz misses her already. 

She makes the small trek back home, where her mom is waiting. She fusses over the scrape on her face, but lets it go because it's not too bad. The two eat dinner together and Luz does some more homework. She finds herself falling asleep at the desk, so she decides to go to sleep.

~

Once Amity makes it back to the Boiling Isles, she immediately walks to Eda's house. Normally, she'd take her time, or just go home, but this is too important. 

She throws the door open, ignoring Hooty and letting herself into the owl house. Eda is sitting on the couch. She looks up, a little surprised. 

"We need to talk about Luz." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz wakes up, in a sleepy daze. Her hand reaches out blindly to give King some morning tummy scratches. She pauses as her brain and body catch up. Right. King isn’t here. She misses him. And Eda. One glance at the clock tells her that she should really get ready. 

Luz gets dressed quickly, as usual. However, before she leaves her room she spots Francois on the bed. She grabs Francois and gently puts him in her backpack. Then she’s off to school. 

First period is, like usual, hell. However, they were actually doing work, so at least Tiffany couldn’t talk to her. It doesn't stop the glares and whispers, but Luz doubts that anything can stop it. Luz is so busy actually focusing on her work, that the class actually goes by quickly. 

She walks into her second period, and happily sits next to Nat. Though, Nat looks a little upset. “Hey Nat.” Luz says. 

Nat looks up, almost a little shocked. Their face softens. “Hey Luz.” 

“Are you alright?” Luz is worried about her only human friend. 

“Yeah, my sister is just...having trouble at school.” Nat says, a deep frown on their face. 

Luz wants to help, but doesn’t know how. “Is there anything we could do to fix it?”

Nat’s face contorts. “I know how to fix it… I just don’t know if fixing it is worth it.”

Luz is a little confused. But based on how Nat is acting, Luz doesn’t want to press. “Well, you know if you need anything, I’m here.” 

Nat smiles, their hands tightly clenched together. “Thank you, Luz. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Luz smiles at them, trying to help lift their spirits. The rest of the class period is quiet, and a little awkward. Nat isn’t in the mood to talk, so Luz just reads on her phone. 

She heads to lunch quickly, ready to get this day over with. Hopefully she can avoid everyone else and just...exist. 

She opens her bag to grab her lunch, and she sees Francois. A smile forces its way past her lips. Thinking about King makes her happy. It reminds her that there are always people who like her, who care about her. 

Her thoughts are interrupted by a hand reaching out and grabbing Francois. She lets out a noise of protest, and turns to see Tiffany. 

“Aww, did the Luzer bring her stuffed animal to school?” Tiffany taunts, swinging Francois back and forth in front of Luz. 

“Hey! Give him back!” Luz says, reaching for Francois, only to have Tiffany pull him back again. 

“What? You want your friend back?” She laughs harder as Luz glares.

“He’s not mine.” Luz says seriously. “Please, just give him back.” 

Tiffany laughs at Luz’s desperation. “Oh, your friends? Well, I guess I just need to…” She grabs Francois' button eye, and begins to pull it. Luz can only watch for a moment, before the thread holding on the eye starts to strain. 

Luz knows King would be devastated if Francois was damaged in any way. King would stop trusting her. Maybe even stop liking her. King is part of her family, and she doesn’t want to hurt her family. 

Before she even really processes what she’s doing, Luz throws herself at Tiffany. She tears Francois out of her hands, and rolls out of the fall to minimize damage. Tiffany is staring in shock. As if she wasn’t expecting Luz to do that. Well, Luz has never really stood up for herself like that before. 

Luz looks up to find Tiffany looking enraged. She looks angry in a way Luz hasn’t seen since the first time she tried to stand up for herself. And after that, Luz had bruises for months. She learned quickly to not fight back. 

Luz gets to her feet quickly, ready to dodge. If there;s one thing the Isles taught her, it’s how to dodge. Tiffany throws a punch, but Luz rolls to the side. Unfortunately, she rolls right into a teacher. 

The two are walked to the office, all while Tiffany is making pleasant conversation with the teacher. Luz would like to curl up in a ball. 

It's a long time before she's in the office, with her mom standing up. She looks so disappointed. 

"A fight, Mija?!" Luz shrinks into her seat. 

"It wasn't really a fight…" She says, not willing to elaborate. 

"Tiffany is a star student, and said that you were mocking her." He says. 

"Mija? Is that true? I thought I raised you better than this." Luz opens her mouth to speak, but her mom isn't done. "If this is the type of thing they are encouraging over there, maybe you should stay here…" 

Luz can't breathe. Not go back? Stay here where she gets shoved, and hit, and mocked. It sounds worse than petrification. 

"That's not what happened…" She says quietly. Her mom trains her eyes on Luz, and the principal frowns. 

"Well then, miss Noceda, care to explain what really happened?" 

This is going to make it worse. Luz knows this. But something is nagging at her. Maybe it's she finally knows what it's like to have friends, and a principal that actually cares about his students. 

She slowly pulls Francois out from her jacket, where she shoved him. His button eye is dangling more than it was before. "This is Francois. He belongs to a friend of mine. I was going to eat lunch when Tiffany pulled him out of my backpack. She started making fun of me, saying things about how he's my only friend. Then she tried to pull his eye out. And Francois is really important to King. So I grabbed him back. But Tiffany doesn't like it when I don't let her pick on me. So she tried to punch me." 

Luz is looking down. She can't see their faces, but that's for the best. 

"How long has this been going on for, Luz?" Her mom asks that. And she shrugs. 

"Since…. Fourth grade? It's been a while." The look of horror on her mom's face is something she never wanted to see. 

She's sent out of the room after that while her mom and principal Hal have a talk. She's sitting on the chair until her mom walks out of the room. 

"Come on, Luz. We're going home." She says, not waiting for Luz to get up. Luz scrambles to grab her things and follow her mom out of the school. 

They drive in silence, her mom frowning deeply. Luz feels so guilty. She wanted to avoid stressing her mom out more. But she just made it worse. 

"Fourth grade?!" Her mom says suddenly, making Luz jump. "Why didn't you say anything, mija?" 

Luz frowns, and looks down at her lap. "I did at first. To my teachers. But they never believed me. Or they thought I was the one instigating it. And you were always so stressed, I didn't want to worry you." 

"Oh, Luz. I care about you more than my stress. If these things are happening I want to know. Can we stop with secrets?" She says. And Luz feels a little lighter. Her mom wants to know. Even if she's stressed. 

"I can try my best, mami." She says with a smile. 

The two go home, and Luz tries to do anything but think about school. She writes some fanfiction that she hasn't touched in years, and actually makes some good headway. Writing is difficult, but getting into the groove always feels rewarding. 

Once she runs out of things to write, Luz moves to reading fanfiction. Specifically, she goes through her old bookmarks and reads some of them. 

Midway through a 15k, enemies to friends to lovers, found family, Azura/Hecate fic her mom calls her down for dinner. Luz rushes downstairs and sets the table. 

Dinner is a quick affair, she can't bring herself to do more than small talk. After she's done eating, Luz does the dishes before running back upstairs. 

She goes back to reading until she falls asleep with her phone still in her hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday, Luz is weary, but also excited. Two days left! Two! Then she can go home! To the owl house! 

The thought renews her vigor, and she gets dressed quickly, and runs downstairs. 

Her mom is already at work, but that's okay. Luz makes herself some eggs, and they're kinda burnt, but that's okay. She eats them quickly, and heads to the school. 

Luz is ignored for first period which is strange. She's usually mocked, but never ignored. Tiffany specifically barely spares her a glance. It makes Luz's anxiety grow. Nothing from them is never a good thing. 

Thankfully, second period comes quickly. "Hey, Nat!" 

Nat looks up and waves awkwardly. They still look upset. "Hey, Luz." 

"How are things with your sister?" She asks, hesitantly. 

"Better, actually. I just…don't know that it's worth it." They say, before going back to staring at the wall blankly. 

Luz frowns. "Well, I'm glad your sister's doing better." 

Nat makes a noncommittal noise, obviously barely paying attention. 

The teacher is just having everyone put the final touches on their project, so Luz just doodles some. 

"Hey," Nat says suddenly, making Luz look up. "I'm gonna head to lunch with you. I don't feel like going to class." 

Luz blinks in surprise. "O..kay?" 

Nat looks back down, signifying that the conversation is over. 

Luz decides to look at her presentation again. It's been done for like, a week. It's the enemies to friends trope. Obviously. But...maybe she could do something else. It just seems boring now. Maybe. She'll think more about it later. The bell rings and she gathers her things. 

Nat is waiting for her at the door. Luz smiles as the two walk towards the cafeteria. Nat still seems stressed.

When they're almost there, Nat suddenly stops walking. "What if we… Don't go to the cafeteria? We could eat in the library or something." They say, seemingly nervous. 

Luz frowns. "But… We're already here?" She says. 

"I know, but the library is much quieter. That's where I like to eat and-" Nat is cut off by the teacher at the doors. 

"Excuse me, ladies. Come inside." 

Luz and Nat walk inside. Nat grabs Luz's hand as they head to the table. "I'm sorry, Luz. I-I had to. For Sammy. Please forgive me." 

Luz's brows furrow in confusion. "Nat? What are you talking about?" Before she can actually get an answer, Nat gets up and Luz feels a hand on her shoulder. 

Luz turns around to see Tiffany, and her blood runs cold. She looks back to Nat, who is already looking away. Big mistake, she's being thrown off of her seat. 

The other kids surround them, and Tiffany grins down at her. "Hey, Luzer. Bet you don't feel like snitching now." 

Luz kinda wants to respond with snark. But she doesn't have her glyphs. And there are so many people. She should stop thinking in the middle of a fight. 

A foot comes into direct contact with her stomach. "What? No friends to help you this time?" She groans in pain, trying to stand up to get away. Luz turns around, only to find a wall of people, ready to see her get hurt. 

Tiffany grabs a handful of her hair and yanks her back. "Oh, yeah. That's right. Nobody cares about you." Luz cries out in pain as Tiffany pulls her head back and brings her elbow down on Luz's head. She falls to her knees after that. Tiffany then kicks her face. She can feel her nose crack. 

Luz tries to curl in on herself. She can barely think as Tiffany just loses her shit. She just starts kicking, and kicking. People are cheering. God, Luz fucking hates this place. 

Luz loses track of the amount of kicks and places that hurt, because she's accepted it. A place where she's literally a war criminal is safer than school. 

Things start to quiet down suddenly, she peeks out from behind her hands, her good eye peering over as the kids part like a sea. Then she sees it. Owlbert. 

"Owlbert!" She calls softly. He hops up to her, but he looks angry. It would be cute if she didn't hurt so bad. 

"You're on first name basis with a fucking owl? Ugh. Out of my way." Tiffany says, and she gets a step forward before the sound of glass shattering gains everyone's attention. 

Owlbert extends his wings and yellow magic, exactly what Eda's looked like before, spreads out and covers her. Then fog slowly makes its way through the room. Kids begin coughing heavily as a shadowy figure appears at the end of the path of children. Luz would recognize that foxy figure anywhere. 

Eda steps towards the group of children, they seem to shy away, probably because she's awesome like that. She glowers at all of the kids. 

"So, who hurt my kid." She asks, venom seeping from her every word. Eda seems to not care, because they're all still coughing their lungs out. "Actually, you're all guilty as far as I'm concerned." Tiffany attempts to walk away, but falls to her knees. 

Eda walks up behind Tiffany, gripping her hair. "You, however, are the worst offender." She pulls her up. "Now, if I were in my prime, you would be dead. I would hang your corpse on the wall for all to see. Then maybe I'd take your hand or something for my personal collection. But, that was when I was younger. Now, I have Luz to take care of, you see? And she means the world to me. And I can't have her thinking it's okay to just murder people, right?" She says, and looks at Tiffany, who nods with fear in her face. 

"See? So, you're not gonna die. But, I can't just have people thinking it's okay to hurt my kid. So that's why you all have been hit with a paralyzing potion." She says happily. 

Owlbert pats Luz on the head, as if trying to comfort her. It's working. 

Eda whispers something in Tiffany's ear before dropping her on the ground like she's nothing. "Now, no one here is gonna mess with Luz again, or there will be hell to pay." 

Owlbert drops the shield on Luz, who hasn't moved because, ow. 

Eda walks up to Luz, and gently wraps one arm around her back while sliding the other hand under her knees. Eda lifts Luz. "If her mom wants to know where she is, you can tell her she's with The Owl Lady." She then turns around and walks away, with one kick to Tiffany's face. 

"How are you feeling, kid?" Eda asks softly, walking past all of the kids who are trying to move away but can't.

"I wanna go home." Luz says, resting her head onto Eda's shoulder. 

Eda nods, face tight. "I'll take you to your house-" Luz immediately shakes her head, but regrets it. Her head spins for a minute, and Eda waits for her to calm down. 

"No- I wanna go home, with you. And King. And Hooty." She says, trying to make her point as clear as possible. She's sick and tired of this place. They don't want to be her friend, and she doesn't want to be stuck with them anymore. Her mom can come with, but she wants her whole family in one place. 

Eda chuckles. "You want to see Hooty? You must really be losing it." 

Luz smiles, and snuggles up to Eda. Owlbert spins himself back onto his staff. The two fly out of the school, Luz still tucked comfortably on Eda. 

It's a quick fly, maybe because Eda and Owlbert are so angry they don't realize they're flying fast. 

Then the two are walking through the portal and right outside of the Owl House. Hooty notices them immediately. "Eda! Hoot! And is that Lu-" Hooty seems to notice Luz's perpetual stage of ouch at the moment, and quiets as Eda throws open the door and lays Luz on the couch.

Luz can hear King running down the stairs. "Eda! Eda I-" He stops suddenly, gasping. "Luz!" He runs up to the couch, looking very worried. "Who did this to you? Was it Tiffany? I'll kill her."

Eda scoops him up. "Let her rest, King." She then kneels next to Luz and helps her sit up. "Here, a healing potion." Then a cold bottle is gently pressed into her hands. “You’ll be all better by morning.”

Luz sips at it slowly, relaxing just by being in a safe place. Eda and King sit next to her. “Alright, kid,” Eda says, examining Luz’s face. “Your nose is most definitely broken. And healing magic is good, but it isn’t that good. We’ll have to figure out what to do about that once your mom gets here.” 

Luz nods slowly, still cringing at the pain. Eda runs a hand through Luz’s hair, making Luz relax into the touch. The two sit in a tense silence for a minute, then the door opens, Luz’s mom rushing through. 

“Luz!” She says, looking frantic, then her eyes land on Luz. She’s over there before Luz can blink. “Mija, are you alright? Que pasó?” (What happened?) 

Luz looks down in shame. She keeps worrying her. “N-at- Nat they-” She can’t explain, everything is too much. It hurts too much to think about. She thought that she finally made a friend. But she’s just as alone as she was before the Isles. She buries her face into Eda’s hair, wincing as her nose hits the hair. 

She can’t see her mom’s face, but that’s for the best. She disappointed her so much already. Her breathing is ragged, because she was kicked in the chest a multitude of times. Eda grabs her hand gently, and Luz squeezes it. They let her calm down, all is silent besides Luz’s frantic breaths that are slowly calming. 

Luz removes herself from Eda’s hair, before inhaling shakily, attempting to steel herself. “Nat… took me to the cafeteria, where Tiffany decided that I shouldn’t have snitched…” She doesn’t have the heart to go into any more detail. They don’t seem to want to press her either. 

Eda looks over to Luz’s mom. “I gave her a healing potion, but her nose is broken. I’m not sure how humans set noses, but I think you should do it. You are the medical professional.

Her mom nods slowly examines Luz's face. Luz flinches back when a hand comes to rest on her nose. "Mija, your nose is broken. It's going to have to be set." 

Luz is very nervous about that, actually. She’s seen her mom set someone’s nose once before, and it was painful. Luz steels herself before clenching her eyes shut.

She feels her mom's hand on her nose again, and Luz grabs Eda’s hand and squeezes it tight. There is a moment of silence before her mom snaps her nose back into place. Luz screams as pain shoots through her nose. Eda’s hands hold Luz’s in place. She wants to curl in on herself, but her mom still has to tape it in place. She gets out the medical tape and tapes her nose so it will heal properly. 

Once that is appropriately settled, Luz grabs King, holding him tightly. King snuggles closer to her. Her mom gets up and sits next to Luz. 

Luz relaxes into the couch, the familiar atmosphere helping immensely. She gives King tummy scratches and closes her eyes. Those people never wanted to accept her. Luz knew that. Luz understood that before she understood basic multiplication. But then Nat. Nat was the part that hurt the worst. But she gets it. It was for their sister. She can’t blame them, even if it hurts. 

She is interrupted from her thoughts by the door being pulled open. “Uhhh, Eda?” Fuck. It’s Amity. “Why is Hooty being oddly quiet-” 

Amity and Luz make eye contact. Amity's face slowly shifts from surprised to horrified. Luz smiles, even though it hurts. “Hey…Amity.” 

Amity comes closer slowly, and falls to her knees in front of Luz. The two are at eye level and Amity rests a hand over hers. “What happened, Luz?” 

Luz frowns. “It was Tiffany-she-” She inhales shakily, trying to find the right words. “She had Nat lead me to the cafeteria and then everyone trapped me there. Tiffany wanted payback for getting her in trouble.” Luz explains, clinging to Amity’s hand. “N-no one there wants me. No one likes me. The only person that liked me decided that I’m not worth it either. A-and they all decided that freaks like me should be-” 

She can’t continue, but Amity decides she doesn’t need to. Arms are wrapped tightly around her, and yeah, it hurts a lot. But she’s being hugged by Amity, so she’s not complaining. She clings to Amity, hiding her tears in her shoulder. 

Amity cares. She cares about Luz and wants to hold her when she cries. And Luz cannot believe she made such amazing friends. 

When the hug breaks, Amity sniffles. “You, Luz, are not a freak.” She says, and she says it with such conviction that Luz can’t help but believe her, “You’re strange, you’re stubborn, you’re unapologetically yourself. You’re my best friend, but you’re not a freak.” 

Luz would be crying if one eye isn't swollen shut. “Thank you, Amity…”

Amity’s cheeks are slightly dusted with pink. Eda coughs very loud and fake, startling the two. 

That springs Luz into action. “Mami! This is my friend, Amity! Amity, this is my mom.” 

Luz’s mom smiles fondly at the two. “It’s nice to meet you, Amity. Thank you for being such a good friend to Luz.”

Amity’s face is bright red, as she attempts to stutter through a greeting. “Hi-uh-Ms.Luz’s mom! I-it’s nice to meet you too!” She says, bowing. Luz grins behind her hand as Eda laughs out loud. 

Amity buries her face in her hands in embarrassment. 

Luz’s mom looks at her and grins. “Ella es linda. ¿Cuándo es la boda?” (She is cute. When's the wedding?) 

Luz chokes on her own spit. “Mami!!!!” She says between coughs. 

“What?” Her mom says with a smug grin. “Have something to say?” 

Luz’s face is now burning. “Mami, please.” 

“Alright, alright, I’ll quit teasing.” She says, still looking awfully smug. 

Eda finally calms down from her laughing fit. “Alright kids, and Camila, it’s getting late so i’ll make some grub. You,” she says, pointing to Luz. “Might want to inform your other friends of your situation. You’ll be better soon, but plant girl is no idiot.” 

Luz nods, having her mom and Amity help her to the table as Eda starts on dinner. Her mom goes to help Eda once Luz is situated on the chair. 

She calls Willow and Gus using the crystal ball. It only takes a few seconds before they both answer. 

“Luz!” They both say, followed by Gus’ “Woah, what happened to your face?” 

Luz laughs, but grimaces. “Yeah, uh, I had a bad day at school.” 

Willow frowns deeply. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Gus?” 

Gus shrugs. “I would, but I should probably be here to make sure you don’t get in trouble Willow.”

“Thanks Gus.” Willow says before hanging up. 

Gus extends his flags. “The flags will be waving for your revenggeeeee!” Then he hangs up as well. 

“That went better than I expected.” Amity said softly, and Luz could only nod in agreement. 

Eda calls out to them. “How many more are we expecting?” 

“Just Willow!” Luz says, leaning on Amity. 

It’s not even three minutes later when the Hooty screams and Willow comes stomping in. Luz grins, and Willow immediately goes to check on Luz. “Luz!”

“Who do I have to murder?” Willow asks while looking her over.

“Nobody, hopefully.” Eda says, making the three look over at her. “I already scared them, if they so much as look at you, I’ll be surprised.”

Luz kinda smiles at the comment. 

“You don’t even have to go back there.” Amity adds, keeping a hand on her shoulder. 

Luz smiles at all of them. It’s so nice to be here. But… “I think… I think I’m going to go tomorrow.”

Everyone looks shocked at her admission, but no one dares to argue. They know it’s her choice. 

“Then we’re coming with you!” Willow says passionately. Amity nods in agreement. 

Luz sniffles. “You guys!” She wraps them both in a hug, grinning brightly. 

Luz turns to see Eda and her mom smiling softly at them. Once the hug breaks, Eda brings dinner to the tabe. The six of them end up squished on the couch, eating and enjoying themselves. 

After dinner, Luz is only able to talk for a few minutes before a wave of exhaustion overcomes her. She yawns, and struggles to keep her eyes open. 

Eda stands. “That’s the healing potion kicking in. Alright, let’s get you to bed.” She lifts her up, and Luz smiles at her mom. 

“Goodnight Mami. Te quiero.” 

Her mom smiles. “Te quiero mija.”

Willow and Amity follow her up. Looks like they’ll be having a sleepover. There’s already a pile of blankets large enough to fit all three of them. Eda lays Luz right in the middle. “Goodnight, kid.”

“G’night Eda, love you.” She can feel Amity and Willow get into the blanket pile as well, but sleep is more appealing by the second. She falls asleep feeling content. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Luz wakes up feeling so comfortable. She is in almost no pain, and can feel arms wrapped around her. So, a vast improvement from the previous day. 

She turns off her alarm and takes in her surroundings. Amity is the one clinging to her, fast asleep. She smiles down at her. 

“You two are cute and all, but you guys should probably wake up.” Willow said, startling Luz. 

Luz nods, her face a bright red. She gently pats Amity's head. "Amity, we gotta get up." 

Amity shakes her head, snuggling closer and her grip tightening. "Amity, this is super cute, but we gotta get to school." 

There's a pause before Amity's eyes shoot open in a panic. She flings herself off of Luz, and onto the floor. 

"Are you okay?" Luz asks, sitting up. 

"Oh, uh, yeah." Amity says with a bright red face. "We're gonna be late if we don't move quick." 

Luz takes pity on her obvious attempt to change the subject. "Yeah. Let's go."

The three get ready and head downstairs. Luz doesn't even bother to get her backpack. They can try and make her do things. But she's only going for one reason, the book report. 

Eda has breakfast for them ready. "Hey kid. Your mom had to go into work." Luz nods, if she's gonna get two weeks off, she needs to go in. 

They eat breakfast quickly, and then head to the human world, and to school. Amity and Willow don't bother to hide their ears this time, which Luz appreciates. 

Walking in the school, people back away from the three immediately. Whether it's due to Luz being completely uninjured after yesterday, Eda's threat still looming in their minds, or the two witches she has beside her, she's just glad they're leaving her alone. Walking into first period, Tiffany balks and flinches back as Luz sits at her desk, Willow and Amity pulling up seats beside her. 

The teacher attempts to stutter though his lecture, but he keeps looking at Luz, absolutely perplexed. He must have been in the lunch room. After repeating the same sentence for the third time, he gives up.

"Alright, just, work on your homework. We'll continue on Monday." 

Luz shrugs and pulls out her phone. She glances up to see Tiffany walking closer, but Amity stands suddenly, glaring intensely. "I will remove your kneecaps." 

Tiffany immediately sat back down. Amity smirks at that before sitting next to Luz. There was silence.

No one here is willing to try and stand up to Amity. A grin pulls at Willow's lips. Willow seems to be enjoying Luz's classmates' perpetual terror. 

Luz sends the two a thankful smile. She spends the rest of the class showing the other two dumb memes. Their laughter fills the silence that was in the classroom.

Once the bell rings, the three head to her second period. Nat makes eye contact with Luz and their eyes widen exponentially. Luz looks down, just heading to her seat. Willow and Amity pull up chairs next to her, nobody is confident enough to complain. 

Luz waits patiently for class to start, casually chatting with Amity, when a shadow falls over her desk. She looks up to see Nat. They’re avoiding eye contact, and look surprisingly small, a complete difference from the first time they met. 

Amity and Willow start to stand, but Luz shakes her head. “It’s okay guys.” She mumbles. The two sit back down, but are glaring harshly. 

“I’m sorry.” Nat says, twisting their hands together. “No explanation could make up for the pain I caused.” 

Luz stares up at them for a minute. “I get it. It was for your sister, right? It still hurt, but I understand.” 

Nat nods slowly. “I-I maybe, can I make it up to you? You were...my first actual friend here. And, even if we’re not friends, I don’t want you to hate me.” 

Luz smiles sadly. “You were my first friend here, too. You don’t have to worry about me hating you, because I don’t hate you. Just, be yourself more and we’ll call it even.” 

Nat nods rapidly. Then the teacher stands. “Alright, kids, it’s time to present. But first! We have the other class coming in to watch our presentations."

The other class slowly files in. Luz watches in abject horror as Tiffany walks in too. She grips both of her friends hands. 

"So, do we have any volunteers?” 

Luz doesn’t pay attention to the presentations. They usually suck anyways. Once the teacher runs out of volunteers, they look around the class. “Miss Noceda, would you like to present.”

Luz stands, awkwardly shuffling around Amity to head to the front of the classroom. 

She stands there, with the whole class staring her down. She inhales sharply, hoping to relax. "On the surface, the Good Witch Azura series seems to be something of a cheap fantasy adventure. And in some ways, it is. It gives kids like me something they need, an escape. When no one likes you these books are perfect to guide you through life, to keep you going."

Luz's eyes float to Willow's, and Willow sends her a thumbs up and a smile. 

"And while these books look like something to completely avoid reality. It has some merit. At first, I was going to talk about how I could befriend my rival, but then, yesterday, after I was carried out of the school and taken home, I realized that there's something a little more accurate. So, today, I will be talking about the Good Witch Azura and the well-written use of the found family trope. Also how it relates to me. Azura is a powerful witch, but she would be nowhere without her mentor or talking animal sidekick. We don’t know much about her past, but I have some theories that it will come to play a large role in Good Witch Azura 6."

She has to pause to stop herself from going off on a spiel about GWA and all of her theories. That can happen another time. 

"But when she came to begin her training as a witch, she was alone. Much like I have been my whole life. I've been the weird kid. I don't blame you all, I am pretty weird. And my mom didn't understand my quirks. I was alone, until I met Eda." 

"Much like when Azura found her mentor and Animal sidekick, I found Eda and King. We found each other. The two met Azura and saw something in her worth protecting, worth nurturing. I'm an outcast here, they're outcasts there. We are weirdos together. They mocked me sometimes, but they also taught me, and accepted me. I wasn't just some burden. I found another part of my family. And much like Azura and all of her friends she made along her adventure, I made more friends. Willow, Gus, Amity. They all are an imperative part of my journey, without them I wouldn't be where I was." 

She stills a bit. She didn't really plan any of this. It was a last minute decision. Luz looks over to Amity and Willow, both look touched. 

"So, my life has basically become one large found family trope, much like Azura. We both found a place that sees our strange traits and embraces them." She ends her speech, with the two classes giving an obligatory awkward clap. 

The bell rings as she is walking to her seat. An idea comes to mind. She grabs her bag, and grabs Willow and Amity's hand. "Let's go! Let's just go. I don't care about any of these other classes." What are they gonna do? Yell at her for skipping after they let her get beaten to a pulp yesterday? 

The three leave the school grounds through the cafeteria. They just walk off. No one stops them, and Luz texts her mom to tell her. The reply is quick, and simply tells her to be safe on her way home. 

They walk into Luz's house, and she rushes up to her room. She grabs a bag from her closet while the other two look around her room. She begins throwing some snacks and more necessities. Luz decided that she doesn’t need more clothes. The ones that she has there are fine. She does make sure to put all of her Azura merch in there. 

Once her bag is packed she grabs Francois, and the three head out. The three talk along the way, and Luz grabs both of their hands confidently. 

"I can't wait to go back to Hexide! After missing two weeks, I have some stuff to catch up on!" Luz says excitedly. 

Willow chuckles at her. "You're one of the few people I know excited for school."

Amity nods in agreement. "Yeah, it makes sense for you though." 

Luz nods happily. "Magic school is the best school." 

They quickly make it to the door to the Boiling Isles, and don't even hesitate to go through. 

Making it to the Owl House was making Luz bounce up and down in excitement. Finally, home. And her mom will be there, so it'll all be complete 

Luz grins at Hooty, and ignores him as she swings open the door, where King, Eda, Gus, and her mom are all waiting. Eda and her mom are standing side by side in front of the table

There's a cake on the table and Luz immediately runs into Eda and her mom's arms. They share a tight hug and Luz pulls Amity, Willow, and Gus into it. All of her family is finally together. And they'll stay that way. 

Luz has a good feeling that these next two weeks will be some of her best.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! If you want a part 2 with Camila's weeks in the Isles, please let me know! Feel free to comment whatever you think! 
> 
> If you want to scream at me about The Owl House or anything else, hmu up on tumblr @doctaaaaaaaar 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!!
> 
> ~KoB


End file.
